Escaped Wage Slave

I Choose Freedom

2011-01-02T14:06:00.000-08:00

"We have been created for greater things, not just to be a number in the world. Not just to go for diplomas and degrees, this work or that. We have been created in order to love and be loved."

-Mother Teresa

It's been two years since the first post of Escaped Wage Slave. Number 394 will be it's last. It would be an interesting study by a grad student as to the content. Personally I feel it chronicles a return to lost good mental health.

Mark Ames' "Going Postal" was an inspiration. A working thesis within the book has a sympathetic slant to the modern workplace shooter, doing good investigative work on many instances. Each case study is a mini-slave revolt and that perspective appeals to me. Every wage slave has a limit to how much he or she can endure physically, mentally, and spiritually. Most die of work related induced heart attacks at home, unreported, it seems.

My particular breakdown (or breakthrough, CA speak) came after three years in an institutional setting. I was a free spirit, surviving from good economy to good economy, working hard when I could, winter lay offs were not unusual. I hired onto my first job with a time clock at 48 years old. I thought I had it made, a "job for life", so to speak. Head down, mouth shut, nose clean - an easy walk until retirement.

My first 6 weeks or so, the lunch table talk was about "Eddie", the union steward out on disability. I listened everyday to what type guy he was and it was quite obvious some of my co-workers had problems with him. I was working in the system with two other new guys, we didn't know what to think about this unseen, unfelt force of nature coming over the horizon returning to work. The eye-ball roll was the common denominator when people said his name.

He did his homework when he was gone. He said to me when we met, "I heard you were a good union man. We need more." This greeting ingratiated me, as I thought of myself as a good union man at the time. He next said in a haunting, foretelling way, "I Googled you. Brought up seven pages." I often wondered why the institution never did the same. At this date, my future in the regular 40 hr world is sealed closed by a simple Google search.

I dedicate Escaped Wage Slave to Eddie's memory. Without an iota of knowledge about Marx or Bakunin, he was the finest union man I ever worked with, simply because he knew right from wrong and was willing to back it up. The people in his unit he dutifully represented for 17 years and 5 contract negotiations didn't back him, unappreciative of the fruits of collective bargaining, and found it easier to shirk work and kiss ass. Forgiveness is needed all around in this instance. I truly want to let go the ill will I had when I left. I grieved hard and silent for the 6 months after Eddie's fatal coronary and the remaining "trustees" never softened up on his memory. I found that deplorable, and now with no workplace representation there was no low-bar that my co-workers wouldn't go under, or so it seemed, to keep this "good job". I internalized all the ribbing among the crew, even if it wasn't about me. I've learned now not to take ANYTHING personally, but it is a hard concept to apply sometimes. Words were like knives.

It wouldn't be fair to the story so far if I didn't take responsibility for actions, words and deeds during this three year time frame. I was out on my own, freedom and alcohol drunk, sex addicted, political passionate and emotionally driven in all manners. As I swirled into a negative tornado, I became intolerable as the bullies I later decry. It's been a self discovering journey to this day with slip ups and embarrassment along the way, but healthwise I'm in a good place ready to grow. Bad thinking habits ARE hard to break. This is a Bully Nation. It seems economic survival demands a emotionally abusive attitude. I can't live like that anymore. I'm looking for a different model.

I learned much on this blogging journey. I made some new lasting friendships of common thinking. I strengthened many long time relationships. I lost camaraderie because some are uncomfortable with the subject of society sickness and the individual mental illness that is it's collectivization. I've come to the conclusion many people enjoy their oppressed situation, want to stay ill and victimized, and refuse to help themselves. It may well be an easier path to go down. I intend on going in the other direction and wish to surround myself with people that think that way, too. My first instinct is to help. Rebuffed, I won't stick around to hear their sorry story. I've realized I can't change anyone but myself.

I mentioned Mark Ames, but other authors are influential as well. Daniel Goleman and Tara Bennet-Goleman's books on "Emotional Intelligence" and "Emotional Alchemy" are tremendously important and need to be read. The Dalai Lama, Krishnamurti, books on meditation by Levine, Kornfield and numerous other authors appeared in my life at the proper time, as the universe deems it. Searching for answers will bring you to the feet of the great teachers and best received with humility. At the start of this episode I probably should have been given drugs and told to sit in the corner. I chose to just sit without the prescription, and it took a few weeks, but the practice of meditation gave me the space to sort out problems. I highly recommend it to battle stress. It does take a certain concentrated effort. I consider that time my daily General Strike, the only time when I'm truly in charge. Yoga is in my life to improve my meditations.

I grew up and out of the labor movement, that is, the formal structure of trade unions. These organizations have awesome potential power for social good. Their leadership at the top are either too corrupt or stupid to fight back. For every Eddie there are thousands of greedy, venal, chauvinistic workers reflecting and responding to the pressures of capitalistic debt-ridden daily life. Until these unions call all their people in and teach them to behave like human beings, instructing them on group dynamics and respect, on compassion for all people, or just point out to them how they are hurting each other on the jobsite, I don't believe fighting for another 25 cents an hour is worth it. I must point out the groundbreaking work of Dr Donahue and Mr Lynch at the school of IBEW NECA 134 for their efforts in this regard. Their seminars to the 3rd yr apprentices and construction industry forewomen/men is a model to be replicated. (https://njatcu.bluevolt.com/content/local%20jatc/chicago%20ejatt)

I still recommend working under a collective bargaining agreement if you have to work at all. I just wish I could offer a sense of community with the contract.

War is the greatest institutionalized stressor. My empathy for the people of Iraq and the brutal repression of my so-called government puts my heart in pain. I think of my friend and his family in Baghdad everyday. I'm so appreciative of the people that brought us together because I was injected with secular hope when I needed it the most. I am proud of my small role in the antiwar movement and request many more to rise in indignation what is being done in our name. Labor hasn't stopped one bullet or missile being fired, nor has institutionalized religion. This apple is red and shiny on the outside, rotten and wormy inside, I'm afraid, for these two society pillar groups. Since the beginning of these wars I have been distressed and I know I join millions across the globe calling out "Shame" to the military/industrial/congressional complex that continues to kill for profit. I applaud each and every activist antiwar soldier today. These people must lead. This madness must cease now.

Two years ago my blood pressure was sky high. My diet was sugar, caffeine, sodium, carbs and alcohol. My arrogance made me the smartest person in the room. Hypersensitive beyond belief. Wound up tight or totally exhausted. Believing rumors of rumors, my thoughts and feelings were real, for sure. At my core I was afraid.

I've learned what bubbles up from the mind isn't necessarily true and often valueless. I desire to have a better filter of what I allow my senses to experience. Surround myself with caring people and learn to care. Popular culture and mass market consumerism has a way to deceive and draw me back to hurtful behavior and speech. I am ready every waking moment to change and beyond some morning grumps, I work hard on maintaining energy levels, allowing life to pass through me, taking nothing personal. The more I learn, the less I know these days, while always striving to learn. Healthy and aware with love in my life, I intend to move in a different direction than the tone presented in EWS.

It's called personal empowerment and all I'll ask of you is to wish me luck.

I don't know who has looked at this blog. I never put a counter on it. I got few comments. I suppose I'll leave it up for a year as is. I have no intention of logging in and editing anything, but I suppose I might. I want to start a new blog of healing content and if anyone would like that address, drop a note. rnfpwr@gmail.com

My best wishes for good health to all.

EWS

One Step Forward, Two Back

2010-12-30T06:39:00.000-08:00

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/la-me-mental-health-20101224,0,4869113.story

Now Powelson's son, identified in court papers as T.G., is one of 20,000 students across California whose mental health services may be in jeopardy in the new year because of a line-item veto by the governor. In October, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger slashed $133 million in funding for what are known as AB 3632 services, a 25-year-old program that requires state and local education and mental health agencies to jointly provide education-related mental health services.

Rant On, Charlie

2010-12-28T14:44:00.000-08:00

http://www.counterpunch.org/manson12282010.html

If we often define "freedom" in entirely political terms, we will understandably focus on the recent assault on civil liberties, notably in the United States. Yet in today's all-encompassing, profit-driven Marketplace (erroneously termed a "society"), most people are "indefinitely detained" in economic servitude. Abjectly dependent upon imperious corporations for survival itself, an employed person readily sacrifices his first and fourth amendment rights in order to earn a paycheck in the privately-owned workplace.

An Army Against One

2010-12-23T12:56:00.000-08:00

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/12/cops-man-shoots-self-at-oak-lawn-hilton.html

Several police patrol units went to the Oak Lawn Hilton this afternoon after learning that a man who brandished a gun at his former workplace in Ford City in Chicago was in one of the hotel's rooms, authorities said.

Before police could locate the man, he had turned the weapon on himself in an attempted suicide, police said. According to hotel manager Rick Harmon, the man survived the attempt and was transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn for treatment and a psychiatric evaluation.

Police officers prepare to enter the Oak Lawn Hilton this afternoon. (Chicago Tribune/Warren Skalski)

Before arriving at the hotel, the man reportedly created a disturbance at his former employer in Ford City by brandishing the weapon and then leaving behind a suicide note, authorities said.

There was no barricade situation at the hotel, and no hotel guests had to be evacuated, authorities said.

"At no time during this unfortunate incident was anybody at the hotel at risk," Harmon said.

Both the Chicago Police Department and the Oak Lawn Police worked together to keep the situation under control and contained. They did not even draw their weapons at any time during the situation."

-- Wendy E. Normandy

Joy To The World

2010-12-20T07:41:00.000-08:00

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/ct-biz-1220-on-the-job-20101220,0,3428487.column

Regardless of the time of year, Americans are stressed, and often it's job-related, experts said. Three of four Americans surveyed this year said they experienced an unhealthy amount of stress, according to the American Psychological Association's 2010 Stress in America survey released in November. The association didn't provide comparison figures for earlier years but said stress has been a continual problem for the last several years.

Soldiers! Don't Give Yourselves To Brutes!

2010-12-16T08:22:00.000-08:00

Dismally Hard At Times

2010-12-15T07:08:00.000-08:00

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1338340/Will-wake-deadly-risks-happy-pills.html

And what is CBT?

It is a form of talking therapy that encourages depressed patients to exchange their self-destructive thoughts for healthier ways of believing and acting.

It is the modern equivalent of telling people (gently) to shape up, smarten up and take responsibility for their own lives.

Except that you could not possibly convey that time-honoured message with such stark clarity these days. Apparently, we are all too fragile to hear such sage advice: the shock might send us rushing to the medicine cabinet.

That is a terrible shame. All the antidepressant drugs and therapy-speak in the world cannot take away the simple, honest fact that life for all of us can be dismally hard at times.

For most of us, though, the healthiest option is to face our problems vigorously, rather than disappear down a black hole of antidepressant dependency.

That is an especially important message to spread during this economic downturn. Times are getting harder.

But instead of grasping for tablets, we would be far better off being encouraged to rely on our own resources — positivity and self-reliance.

Anti-American Feel Good

2010-12-12T18:45:00.000-08:00

America, Y Ur Peeps B So Dumb?

If you hang out much with thinking people, conversation eventually turns to the serious political and cultural questions of our times. Such as: How can the Americans remain so consistently brain-fucked?

Joe Bageant is author of the book, Deer Hunting With Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War. (Random House Crown), about working class America. He is also a contributor to Red State Rebels: Tales of Grassroots Resistance from the Heartland (AK Press). A complete archive of his on-line work, along with the thoughts of many working Americans on the subject of class may be found on ColdType and Joe Bageant’s website, joebageant.com.

Lab Rats

2010-12-08T13:11:00.000-08:00

Duh. Didn't See It Comin':

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8184149/Email-has-turned-us-into-lab-rats.html

Increasing levels of information overload from computer and smart phone screens cause a “bottleneck” in the brain and prevent any deep thought, according to Nicholas Carr, former executive editor of the Harvard Business Review.

His comments add to the weight of evidence that our addiction to technology and the snippets of information it provides is damaging our ability to apply our power of thought in a meaningful way.

Waiting For Flying Saucers

2010-12-07T18:56:00.000-08:00

Live Bait & Ammo #160: Waiting for Flying Saucers ?

UAW President Bob King and his corporate partners at GM, Ford, and Chrysler-Fiat will blame the competition they’ve rigged on workers and relentlessly degrade them into believing they are worth less and less as profits rise. That’s not a guess, it’s the drill.

History lessons must be revised before the profiteers of war and labor are able to con workers with the same old lies. We have to be literally vigilant. The most common words in the con man’s lingo are “free” and “lucky”. As in, you are lucky to have a job but you are free to quit if you don’t like it. Unless, of course, you’re enlisted. In which case, you defend freedom while the lucky sit home and collect dividends. The only reason we have enough volunteers in Afghanistan today is because there isn’t enough opportunity in the land of the free. It’s an old story.

When the Confederacy failed to acquire enough volunteers, they instituted conscription with exemptions for important people. Slave owners decided slave owners were too important to fight in the war to defend slavery. The Confederacy granted one exemption for every twenty slaves owned. Thus, a plantation master with one hundred slaves could have an exemption for himself, his three sons, and a nephew. It was, as workers said back then, “A rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight.” Men who refused conscription were hung. Their property was confiscated and friends and neighbors were warned not to help the draft dodgers’ women and children.

Today, working people in the south commonly sport the rebel flag. They’ve been conned into believing that the Civil War was about some principle other than the privileges of slave owners. Through a revision of history, they’ve come to believe that defending slavery was a war for freedom. In fact, the only thing free was labor. Slavery, which provided free labor for the rich, depressed wages for all workers regardless of color. White southern workers not only got screwed, they fought for the honor of getting screwed, and some of them are still defending that honor.

Sometimes the truth is too painful to admit. When facts defy our cherished beliefs, something has to give. We can reject the beliefs we were taught, or we can reject the facts and alter evidence to sustain beliefs that bolster a more glorious version of events.

On December 21, 1954 Marian Keech and a small cult of followers gathered on a hill expecting that the world was going to end and that they, the true believers, would be rescued by flying saucers. When the world didn’t end and flying saucers didn’t appear, Marian and her followers claimed that their faith had saved the world from destruction. Faith can dominate experience because beliefs are not bound by hard facts or natural law. The supremacy of belief over reality is self perpetuating.

We have our own true believers in the UAW. They still believe Bob King and his enforcers have our best interests at heart when they claim that concessions save jobs and workers have to be more competitive. UAW members who believe this Concession Caucus boilerplate are like the workers who fought to defend slavery while the slave owners drank sweet tea on the verandah and cheered them on. One has to wonder where they’ve been for the past thirty years.

How many more times will American workers be conned into “A rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight?”

A goldfish lacks foresight because a goldfish doesn’t have any memory. Every time he swims around the bowl, the view is brand new. The struggle against oppression is a struggle against denial and the tendency to forget painful memories. America invaded Iraq because America forgot the Gulf of Tonkin.

- Gregg Shotwell

EWS - for full article http://groups.google.com/group/soldiersofsolidarity?hl=en.

Technology Noose

2010-12-03T07:59:00.000-08:00

There's A Place For Us...:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-formspring-bullying-20101202,0,603742.story

Her classmate Krishna Mundada, 17, of Vernon Hills, said he witnessed others being bullied, insulted and even stalked on the site.

"It only brings out the coward in people, and it's only making matters worse for everyone," Mundada said.

Sit

2010-11-27T16:28:00.000-08:00

Sort Schema Madness:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sc-health-1124-holliday-meditation-20101124,0,4540402.story

Your mind is a muscle you can train; meditation is the tool used to focus it or quiet it down. Every day thousands of thoughts zip through our heads, something Gerlach likens to a jar of dirty water: Keep shaking up the jar — or your head — and it will remain clouded. But "if we set the jar down, letting the dirt particles settle to the bottom, it leaves clarity at the top," she said.

Meditation will not stop your thoughts. It will not empty your mind. Instead, proponents say, it teaches you how to replace the mental chatter in your head with stillness. This ability helps us live more consciously in the present moment.

Work Kills

2010-11-26T09:21:00.000-08:00

Do Nothing Buy Nothing:

http://www.ivillage.com/276343/4-a-276343?obref=obnetwork

Compared with men who worked less than 40 hours per week, unfit men who worked 41 to 45 hours a week were 59 percent more likely to die of heart disease, although they were not more likely to die of other causes.

194 Years of Scabs

2010-11-23T08:01:00.000-08:00

http://www.counterpunch.org/macaray11192010.html

In truth, European trade unionists are astounded and confused by the free-for-all mentality of the U.S. This bizarre arrangement where a worker’s established role in society can be traded away promiscuously—can be placed on the market and sold to another party like a cheap commodity—blows their minds.

Clearly, they don’t understand America. They don’t understand our mindset, our deep-seated entrepreneurial impulses, our categorical reverence for the free market, our belief that anything that can, in principle, be bought or sold is, therefore, automatically, for sale. It’s this mentality that created pay toilets at the airport.

From their perspective, calling a scab a “replacement worker” is as absurd as calling a traitor an “alternative patriot.” No flag-waving American would stand for that kind of verbal legerdemain when it came to defending one’s country; and no one should stand for it when it comes to labor disputes. But we do.

David Macaray, a Los Angeles playwright, is the author of “It’s Never Been Easy: Essays on Modern Labor”. He served 9 terms as president of AWPPW Local 672. He can be reached at dmacaray@earthlink.net

Monday News Wire

2010-11-22T06:07:00.000-08:00

Believe the G? It's Worse!:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1331636/1-5-Americans-mentally-ill-joblessness-takes-toll.html

More than 45million Americans, or 20 per cent of U.S. adults, had some form of mental illness last year, it was revealed this week.

U.S. government research showed that of those 45million, 11million had a serious illness.

WBI Forum

2010-11-21T09:40:00.000-08:00

Stress Cracks:

http://workplacebullying.org/wbiforum/

This page hosts open discussions about the problem of workplace bullying and solutions for resolving it. Take some time to share your story. Read about the experiences of others. Share ideas and information with people who know exactly what it feels like to be a target. Remember, it takes a great deal of courage to tell one's story. Please be encouraging and supportive of one another.

Another Needless Waste

2010-11-15T07:19:00.002-08:00

How Mean We Are:

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/15/3184811/cyberbully-suicide-turned.html

Bullying is as ingrained in the fabric of our culture as baseball and apple pie. Telling kids to stop picking on others isn't very effective when they see the adults doing it. For example, many workplaces aren't much different from high school campuses with the harrassment, rumor mongering, sabotage, and shunning that goes on. Boorish behavior is encouraged and rewarded in business and government, hence your high school bullies go on to become bully bosses. Until society as a whole takes a zerio tolerance approach to bullying, it's futile to tell the kids not to do it.

The Good Professor

2010-11-11T08:07:00.000-08:00

http://www.counterpunch.org/

November 11, 2010

Aunt Lil, I remember:

On the 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month ...

Laying Down Arms

By PETER LINEBAUGH

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month the Great Powers of the World signed the armistice laying down arms after four years of the bloodiest war in history. That was 1918.

Now, we call it Veteran's Day.

What caused the armistice was the refusal of soldiers to fight. They refused 'to go over the top' anymore. In Russia, France, England, Italy they refused to participate in the slaughter which had begun in 1914.

What we learn from Armistice Day is that the soldier is the front line of the peace movement.

Sailors and soldiers mutinied against the war, turning their arms not on so-called "enemies," namely brother soldiers from across the world: instead, they turned their arms upon the officers who otherwise sent them to the butchery of the trenches or ordered them to a freezing death in battles at sea.

In late October 1918 at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven, the home ports of theGerman fleet, the sailors refused the orders of their officers. Soldiers were brought in to force the sailors to obey. Instead the soldiers embraced their cause, "Frieden und Brot” or Peace and Bread.

One such sailor was a former stoker named Karl Artelt who had shoveled coal into the fires which kept the steam engines of the battleships burning. On a voyage to the Far East he witnessed the Chinese revolution of Sun Yat-sen. Later, perhaps as the engines of the German naval squadron were transformed from coal to oil, he became a skilled metal worker in the engine room. In other words his experiences below decks put him at the central themes of his historical epoch - imperialism and the oil machine - and he used these experiences to overthrow the war mongers. Such men put an end to World War One.

Together soldiers and sailors formed direct democratic councils. On 9th November 1918 a socialist republic was declared in Berlin. Hindenburg and Ludendorf, the German generals, had to agree to an armistice.

So: Honor the soldier who takes direct action for peace. Honor the soldier who thinks. Honor the soldier who brings Empire to its end.

Remember the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month!
Bring the troops home!

Peter Linebaugh teaches history at the University of Toledo. The London Hanged and (with Marcus Rediker) The Many-Headed Hydra: the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic. His essay on the history of May Day is included in Serpents in the Garden. His latest book is the Magna Carta Manifesto. He can be reached at: plineba@yahoo.com

War Criminals, One And All

2010-11-08T06:17:00.002-08:00

http://www.opinion-maker.org/2010/11/oh-dear-obama-this-world-is-full-of-agony/

Oh Dear Obama! This World is Full of Agony

Posted on 06. Nov, 2010 by Raja Mujtaba in US

[Translate]

By Dr Mustafa Kamal Sherwani

Dedicated to his India visit.

Don’t believe the hopes of the ecstatic world,

When you sit on the mighty American throne;

Try to change your country into a sacred place,

Make it shine with piety, as once it shone.

I know you inherit the legacy of a devil,

Whose hands are full of ravages and blood;

Who exulted over the wails and shrieks,

Who ruined the peace like a miserable flood.

Have an intent gaze at Michelle –your wife,

When, of Iraq and Afghan folk, you think;

Tell her 'someone will rape you in front of me',

Imagine her agony, and look at her horrific blink.

Cast an affectionate glance at Malia and Sasha,

Your lovely daughters of 11 and 7 years old;

Tell them ' I will be shot before your eyes',

Then face the truth as a person- brave and bold.

Bring to your mind the images of countless houses,

Which your deadly bombs have reduced to rubble;

The mounting heaps of the dead whose life has gone,

Like a slight breeze breaks a water’s tiny bubble.

Dr. Mustafa Kamal Sherwani, LL.D. Chairman, All India Muslim Forum

Lucknow ,U.P.India

Love Is Kind, Fear, Unkind

2010-11-06T17:24:00.003-07:00

World Wide Pain:

http://www.workplacemobbing.com/mobbing.html

Workplace mobbing is a 'virus' or a 'cancer' that spreads through malicious gossip, rumour, hearsay,and unfounded accusations. It is done with deliberate intent to have those targeted 'eliminated' or 'forced out' of their employment. Accusations of unsubstantiated 'bullying' can even be made against the target as the perpetrators realise the benefits of claiming 'victim' status.

Those targeted are often:

Change agents
High achievers (sometimes with public recognition)
Enthusiastic (eg those who volunteer)
Whistleblowers
Known for their commitment to human rights

Home Run Around

2010-11-03T13:27:00.007-07:00

Post-Election notes:

I awoke this morning with a txt proclaiming the End of the World (as we know it) from a stalwart Green Party activist in SW Chicago. His guy for State Rep, Ochsenfeld, a very decent man got 15%. Locally Greenies clocked in at anywhere from 7 - 15%. The top of the ballot for Governor, Rich Whitney - a very credible presentation to be a candidate in the land of Mutt and Jeff politics - got 3.4%. The showing by Rich Whitey (as the ballots prepared by the Chicago Election Commission printed last week) denies him funding ( correction: 11072010, ews... creates position for GP to gather exorbitant number of petition signatures ) for the next election. The misspelling of his last name blamed on bureaucratic error. I can't get enough of Chicago politics.

You want politics? I'm currently at lunch, enjoying a Hoppy afternoon, watching the San Francisco population elevate to near god-head baseball playing country boys and Latin American especials with the orchestrated pomp and circumstance of Circuses rather than Bread. Always money for fireworks shows or funerals of state proportions for fallen police officers of street death or terrorist fly overs by infernal killing machines. Winning a World (regardless of Japan, Cuba, etc) Series every lifetime deserves mention. It doesn't deserve too much of our time or tax dollars.

The fascist backdrop of the state buildings, the security presence, and Jon Miller introducing Herr Govenator ("come with me if you want to live" a patron comments), spooked me but the crowd roars. He says the Giants "are a machine". Trans Humanism is complete in California....

... all very corporate, owner/slave type speeches from the Brass, I believe "our boys" may have been used. The players sit on the stage as if in a corral and look with the nervous attitude of an alpaca - they know where they are, do you?... thoroughbred horses, some with brains. Does anyone remember Andy Messersmith? or Curt Flood? Ted Lindsay?, hockey fans?...

One ironic observation watching this corporate media feed is the crowd is overwhelmingly white. Very un-diverse, even the camera can find a black face at the Republican National Convention, but not here in the Land of Political Correctness.

Except for the players, of course...

The manager delivered a very humble speech, as a good leader should do. He said the team felt "the presence" of the fans as they charged their way to (a quarter million dollar extra payday) a championship, but his sincerity was felt. This team has a lot of personality. I watched every pitch. I suppose I'm as distracted in life as the next mook in this great land of ours.

"Let's all say Juan Uribe!" Uooooo..., or did they say "Doo Do"?

So, this morning was spent reliving the crushing defeat of any social legislation, now just rapturously adoring athletes. As selected players came to address the crowd some spoke better than national candidates, some have never spoken before a crowd since high school speech class, some said thanks for the coaches and teachers in their life. Even one or two said, "thank God" (at the same time recognizing the training/medical staff). Rally Thong delivery crushed the Rally Monkey hex, perhaps Cub Fans should roast Sam Sianis (or his goat).

If it was so easy...

As Paris burns, ... reporting from the front lines... holding the barricades

- friend of Leon Berger 11032010

*******

Update:

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/11/cubs-accidentally-damage-harry-caray-statue.html

The statue existed without incident for 11 years at the corner of Addison and Sheffield, except for a couple pranks in which someone hung a dead goat carcass on the statue. That occurred once in 2007, and again before the home opener in 2009.

Blue Monday News

2010-11-01T07:52:00.004-07:00

Be Brave, Take The Tour... Viva Le Dickens:

http://www.chinahush.com/2009/10/21/amazing-pictures-pollution-in-china/

********

Amen, Brother:

LONDON: Alcohol is a more dangerous drug than both crack and heroin when the combined harms to the user and to others are assessed, British scientists said on Monday.

Presenting a new scale of drug harm that rates the damage to users themselves and to wider society, the scientists rated alcohol the most harmful overall and almost three times as harmful as cocaine or tobacco.
Read more: Alcohol more harmful than heroin, crack cocaine: Study - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Alcohol-more-harmful-than-heroin-crack-cocaine-Study/articleshow/6852482.cms#ixzz142ilbvos

**************

Get 'Em Early:

http://preventdisease.com/news/10/102910_adhd_misdiagnosed.shtml

He found that the youngest children were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD and to be prescribed behavior-modifying stimulants such as Ritalin than their older classmates. He told the press that the "smoking gun" was that the diagnoses depended on the children's age relative to classmates and the teacher's perceptions of whether they had symptoms.

"If a child is behaving poorly, if he's inattentive, if he can't sit still, it may simply be because he's 5 and the other kids are 6."

"There's a big difference between a 5-year-old and a 6-year-old, and teachers and medical practitioners need to take that into account when evaluating whether children have ADHD," he urged.

EWS Friday Newswire

2010-10-29T09:12:00.003-07:00

It's Gettin' Closer All The Time:

http://tax.com/taxcom/taxblog.nsf/Permalink/UBEN-8AGMUZ?OpenDocument

Every 34th wage earner in America in 2008 went all of 2009 without earning a single dollar, new data from the Social Security Administration show. Total wages, median wages, and average wages all declined, but at the very top, salaries grew more than fivefold.

*********

Trade Union Voice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE3pMPObcGU

Listen to an overbearing gatekeeper, Jon Faine, attempt to rubbish the genuine concerns of an Australian trades unionist, Kevin Bracken, in an attempt to stifle any debate about the many anomalies in the official 9/11 story.

Trades Hall president Kevin Bracken stands by his 9/11 conspiracy
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/vict...

************

Why Do We Put Up With It?:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/8092328/Terrorism-Act-No-terror-arrests-made-after-100000-stop-and-searches.html

Out of more than 100,000 people stopped and searched by police using controversial anti-terror powers not one single arrest was made for terrorism-related offences, new figures show.

The Days of the Dead

2010-10-28T08:18:00.004-07:00

Horror as the background music, or Muzak, of life:

http://www.counterpunch.org/jw10262010.html

A few months after that night drinking beers at Fort Hood, I was again in Killeen, Texas. A taxi driver bringing me in from the bus station told me he had planned to be career military, but things changed when he did his time in Iraq. Now his wife was a few months from getting out of the army herself, he said, and then they would leave this bleached, desiccated town, this awful swathe of beige and neon and yellow ribbons in the middle of nowhere, and do something else. Other than that, he didn’t want to talk about Iraq. We rode through the nighttime streets in a thick silence. Outside the motel he turned toward me as he made change. It was a cheap place with brash lighting that cut slantwise through the taxi window and gave one side of his brown, angular face an intense clarity. He looked at me. “I killed a family,” he said. “At a checkpoint. I killed them all.” That was it. I took the change, and he drove off.

JoAnn Wypijewski is on the road in a ’63 Valiant, sending stories to CounterPunch as she goes. She can be reached at jwyp@earthlink.com

Chains Invisible

2010-10-27T07:04:00.001-07:00

Why Would Anyone Be Afraid Of Work?:

http://chicagobreakingbusiness.com/2010/10/more-stressed-workers-calling-in-sick-creatively.html

Almost three in 10 workers have played hooky from their jobs by calling in sick at least once this year, according to CareerBuilder’s annual survey of workplace absenteeism. More than a quarter of employers attribute the bogus sick days to the job stress and burnout that’s continued in a weak economy.

Of the employers who checked up on an employee, 70 percent asked the employee to come back to work with a doctor’s note, half called the “sick” employee at home, and 18 percent had someone else make the phone call.

And, in a scene reminiscent of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, 15 percent of bosses said they drove by the employee’s house or apartment.

Heart Transplant

2010-10-21T12:57:00.003-07:00

Worth A Look:

http://davemarsh.us/

Author/attorney/child-and-anti-abuse advocate Andrew Vachss’ latest, the graphic novel (and a half) HEART TRANSPLANT, hit the stores this week. Read it!

I can’t do better in pushing you to do that, than to repeat the quote I gave the publisher:
“Heart Transplant is a necessity in a country that sometimes seems to be run by bullies at every level, from kindergarten to Capitol Hill. It fits the bill perfectly, with a simple and simply terrific story, wise and scholarly commentary that lets nobody off the hook, and the incandescent Rorschach of Frank Caruso’s illustrations. IF YOU’RE WONDERING NOT JUST WHY BULLYING HAPPENS BUT WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT, READ HEART TRANSPLANT. It ranks alongside Andrew Vachss’ Another Chance to Get It Right as a signpost on the road to a more human society.”

I keep a stash of Another Chance in my house, in case of emergencies–like people who don’t know what to do about their own histories of enduring abuse. Reading it changed an important part of my life. Heart Attack is just as important, and maybe even of more widespread importance. A big part of that is the part written by Zak Mucha, a Chicago social worker.

EWS Political Report

2010-10-20T06:25:00.004-07:00

Mark Ames, author of Going Postal: Rage, Murder and Rebellion: From Reagan's Workplaces to Clinton's Columbine and Beyond...

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_22?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=going+postal+mark+ames&sprefix=going+postal+mark+ames

... dissects the latest threat from the "masses" through the lens of alienation. TRT 5.36

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Celebrate Another EWS

2010-10-19T12:47:00.002-07:00

Obviously, All His Fault:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-us-flight-attendant-arrest,0,6621986.story

Slater's departure made him a folk hero to put-upon workers everywhere who have fantasized about quitting in a blaze of glory. He was a topic on TV shows, on the Internet and on the front pages of newspapers, with many cheering him for standing up to the often-inhospitable world of airline travel, and others accusing him of childish and dangerously reckless behavior.

His 15 minutes of fame are not quite over: In a homage to Slater, several businesses are selling a new costume for Halloween: the disgruntled flight attendant.

What Happened?

2010-10-15T09:32:00.001-07:00

Some Assembly Required by Gregg Shotwell, 1996

“All possible brain work should be removed from the shop floor,” said Frederick Taylor in 1903. As industrialized workers race headlong into the 21st century we seem to be gazing into a rearview mirror where our future recedes before our eyes. We’re on a fast track backward.

Look around. Take your eyes off your repetitive task, your keyboard, your instrument panel, your personal row of buttons. Set your screw driver down and look around.

Have you noticed the high-tech, high-skill jobs disappearing from your plant? Have you observed the actual manufacturing capability of your facility reduced? Piece by piece?

More and more factories have basically become screw driver plants. That is, assembly plants with very little in-house manufacturing and jobs with “no experience required”. We are not only losing jobs, we are losing skills, knowledge, expertise, and ultimately our bargaining power. The less you know, the less value you hold.

While corporations promote countless new programs touting teamwork, progress, and people friendly slogans, the old fashion Taylor System of Scientific Management continues to dominate corporate strategy and accelerate the brain drain.

A key feature of the Taylor system was the dummy down approach. Make every job as stupid as possible. Simplify and standardize procedures into mindless tasks that require minimum (but highly repetitive) motion. Reduce workers’ power by depleting skill, craft, knowledge, and expertise. Minimize individuality. Erase personal pride in the job. Liquidate all sense of ownership. Make workers generic, interchangeable, and replaceable as component parts. Merge classifications. Blur the lines of demarcation.

The current application of Taylorism further depreciates worker value, advances the de-skilling of America, and disassembles solidarity by applying the reduction principle to whole factories. Each manufacturing facility is broken down to its simplest function. Piece by piece, work is removed from the bargaining unit and out sourced to ever smaller and more specialized nonunion suppliers. Even component plants are increasingly dependent on outside suppliers. The strip down process emasculates workers. After ten years in an auto plant you have no marketable skills.

The shakedown process is lubed with sweet talk and enticements. The familiar come-on inviting us to be “partners in the business” is worth less than a pimp’s promise. Wake up. The first indication you’re about to be date raped is an appeal for cooperation.

Once the union/management team is cozily ensconced in the back seat, company con men present the villainous competitive bid, “If we want to save jobs, we have to be competitive. How can we get the cost down?” Boogie. “Now we don’t have room for all the equipment this new product requires. How can we create more space?” Cha-cha.

The union isn’t busted, it’s disrobed. One piece at a time. Slowly. It’s almost painless.

Have you noticed all the new products require more equipment, less jobs, and lots of out sourcing? (Oh yeah, teamwork too!) The union is gradually reduced by attrition. As the manufacturing process is fragmented, scattered, and decentralized, union shops become smaller and more isolated. Pattern bargaining is shattered. Breaking with tradition the national contract is ratified before local agreements are signed. The solidarity with other plants is broken. Then the isolated victims are whipsawed into cowering shadows of their old confrontational selves.

Skilled trades have not escaped the erosion of skills. The new system contracts out work that requires more knowledge, planning, and experience, such as major construction, complex repairs, and the set up of new machinery. Service reps and engineers set up the new high-tech machines. Skilled trades are left in the dark and reduced to performing simple standard maintenance procedures that require minimal knowledge, ingenuity, troubleshooting savvy, or skill.

Unions have gradually become smaller and weaker. The UAW has literally been cut in half. How is the leadership responding? With mergers. A strategy gleaned from the CEO’s they play golf with while we are at work. The merger of Auto, Steel, and Machinist unions is a massive cover up for a failure to organize. It won’t stop the out sourcing or the de-skilling of America. It won’t increase union membership. It won’t leverage our bargaining power. It will only conceal the losses a little longer.

Union leaders are busy cutting deals that protect the privileged few at the expense of new hires. The two tier wage system is now an accepted practice. The corporations will build on it. Pattern bargaining is a thing of the past. When Chrysler workers get $7000 bonuses and GM workers get $300, parity is trashed. The UAW has agreed to accept new parts plants at prevailing wage. Welcome Delphi, the whipsawing has just begun.

We need to take a tip from the CAW. Create a culture of struggle, not cooperation. Stop union shops from competing to see who can bend over the farthest. Make solidarity an action, not a slogan. Promote democracy within the union and demand accountability from the leadership. Be proactive. Take a stand for job ownership. Stop talking about the Flint sit down in ‘37 and take over a plant. Don’t roll over. Fight back.

Stay Solid, Gregg Shotwell, 1996

Treat The Cause

2010-10-12T15:24:00.001-07:00

Wonder of Wonders:

http://www.alternet.org/health/148444/are_we_giving_our_soldiers_drugs_that_may_make_them_kill_themselves/

More troops are dying by their own hand than in combat, according to an Army report titled "Health Promotion, Risk Reduction, Suicide Prevention." Not only that, but 36 percent of the suicides were troops who were never deployed.

The unprecedented suicide rates are accompanied by an unprecedented rise in psychoactive drug rate among active duty-aged troops, 18 to 34, which is up 85 percent since 2003, according to the military health plan Tricare. Since 2001, 73,103 prescriptions for Zoloft have been dispensed, 38,199 for Prozac, 17,830 for Paxil and 12,047 for Cymbalta says Tricare 2009 data, which includes family prescriptions. All of the drugs carry a suicide warning label.

Choose Your Weapon

2010-10-10T12:32:00.003-07:00

Maintain Mind At All Costs:

http://www.naturalnews.com/029996_chemotherapy_brain_function.html

Although the effects can be temporary, gray matter destruction due to chemotherapy is often permanent. Some people become so impaired following chemotherapy that they are never able to return to work, that is if they survive the treatment at all.

According to The McGill Cancer Center in Canada, 91 percent of oncologists surveyed indicated that "all chemotherapy programs are unacceptable to them and their family members." Instead of helping to treat cancer, chemotherapy destroys the only thing that even has a chance at preventing it: the immune system.

You Like?

2010-10-09T13:59:00.002-07:00

Therapies All Kinds:

http://people.stu.ca/~nicholson/Ian_Nicholson/Research_files/Baring%20the%20Soul.pdf

Nude therapy was based on the idea of the naked body as a metaphor of the "psychological soul." Uninhibited exhibition of the nude body revealed that which was most fundamental, truthful, and real. In the marathon, Bindrim interrogated this metaphor with a singular determination. Bodies were exposed and scrutinized with a science-like rigor. Particular attention was paid to revealing the most private areas of the body and mind-all with a view to freeing the self from its socially imposed constraints. "This," Bindrim asserted gesturing to a participant's genitalia and anus, "is where it's at. This is where we are so damned negatively conditioned" [...] Determined to squelch the "exaggerated sense of guilt" in the body, Bindrim devised an exercise called "crotch eyeballing" in which participants were instructed to look at each others genitals and disclose the sexual experiences they felt most guilty about while lying naked in a circle with their legs in the air [...] In this position, Bindrim insisted "you soon realize that the head end and the tail end are indispensable parts of the same person, and that one end is about as good as the other.:"

Nothing Here. Move Along.

2010-10-08T17:39:00.001-07:00

Anything Wrong With America?:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/9302406

If there has been soul-searching among the bullies in Mentor — a pleasant beachfront community that was voted one of the "100 Best Places to Live" by CNN and Money magazine this year — Sladjana's family saw too little of it at her wake in October 2008.

That Guy's Nuts! Grab 'em

2010-10-05T19:29:00.005-07:00

Nutrition News:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/os-walnuts-stress,0,3656318.story

The researchers found that including walnuts and walnut oil in the diet lowered both resting blood pressure and blood pressure responses to stress in the laboratory. To "stress" the participants, researchers had them give a speech or submerge a foot in cold water. "This is the first study to show that walnuts and walnut oil reduce blood pressure during stress," said Sheila G. West, associate professor of biobehavioral health. "This is important because we can't avoid all of the stressors in our daily lives. This study shows that a dietary change could help our bodies better respond to stress."

Relieved Of Fear

2010-10-04T07:36:00.003-07:00

First they came for the ______, but I wasn't one of them.... :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/oct/01/home-office-threat-level-fear

To see what is happening we probably need to return to the old journalistic maxim, follow the money. There is now an extensive police and industrial lobby in Britain dependent for its resources on maintaining a high level of public fear. The lobby thrives on its own failures. The incidents in America on 9/11 (2001) and in London on 7/7 (2005) saw the greatest ever peacetime growth in spending on security. Unlike most forms of public spending, this one could by its nature demand cash with menaces and with no account of value for money...

Hardly a month goes by without someone in authority reminding us to expect another attack imminently. I have lost count of statements from MI5, the police and other experts that an attack is a matter of "not if, but when". The attacks never occur, or are brilliantly thwarted, like the one reportedly prevented this week, apparently by dropping bombs from drones on Pakistani villages. What is noticeable is that the tempo of such threats increases immediately before Christmas and when the security lobby is involved in a fight over money, as now...
I do not believe that this apparent failure to deliver value for money is real, or that some catastrophic explosion is imminent. I think this is just another lobby seeking money. As it plays with its words, the rest of us may shrug and go about our business. But I sometimes wonder who is the real terrorist.

DeTox 2 ReTox

2010-09-28T13:31:00.001-07:00

What Goes In Must Come Out:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1315655/Could-magnet-head-turn-right-left-handed.html

The study highlighted how our sense of right and wrong isn't just based on upbringing, religion or philosophy - but by the biology of our brains.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1315655/Could-magnet-head-turn-right-left-handed.html#ixzz10rHGiRwX

Mentally Ill Have Their Uses

2010-09-25T08:36:00.001-07:00

Join IVAW's campaign now by making a Pledge of Support.

http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/mentally-injured-troops-used-to-murder-children-and-women-daily

The US continues its illegal and immoral wars, murdering innocent children, women and innocent men daily, by redeploying soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injuries and Military Sexual Trauma. Veterans view this as cruel, inhumane, and dangerous and know that without repeated use of traumatized soldiers on the battlefield, the Iraq and Afghanistan occupations could not continue. By winning troops Right to Heal, Iraq Veterans Against the War believes Americans can end the war and war crimes committed daily in their names.

On October 7, the 9th anniversary of the Afghanistan invasion, Iraq Veterans Against the War will announce its strategic campaign, Operation Recovery: Stop the Deployment of Traumatized Troops.

Brain Study

2010-09-21T08:12:00.003-07:00

Handling How You Are:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sc-health-0915-anxiety-20100915,0,3836612.story

"If you ask most neuroscientists what area of the brain would be critical in anxious temperament and emotion, most would say the amygdala," said Jonathan Oler, an associate scientist at the Health Emotions Research Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and co-lead author of the study.

The amygdala is known to have a correlation with anxiety and stress responses. The hippocampus was previously thought to be mostly involved with memory.

"But the data are the data, and the hippocampus and the amygdala predicted anxiety in the monkey equally," Oler said. "What was different between them was the heritability component."

************

Who Do You Love, Bo Diddley?:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100813090457.htm

People high in trust were more accurate at detecting the liars -- the more people showed trust in others, the more able they were to distinguish a lie from the truth. The more faith in their fellow humans they had, the more they wanted to hire the honest interviewees and to avoid the lying ones. Contrary to the stereotype, people who were low in trust were more willing to hire liars and they were also less likely to be aware that they were liars.

Crap Food Rant

2010-09-16T08:48:00.009-07:00

8 Ways Soda Fizzles Your Health

http://waterforlifeusa.com/blog/uncategorized/8-ways-soda-fizzles-your-health/

We would wager money that many of you are “doing the dew” or “doing what tastes right” this very moment. Before you take another gulp from your soft drink can, here are 8 facts about soda to consider that may drastically affect the quality of your health.

*****

I've written often on this blog about the declining mental health within the American workforce. The alienation, the workweek grind, overbearing bosses and rude co-workers all are part of the sickness permeating the working class consciousness resulting in depression, over-sensitivity and workplace shootings.

Another factor in bringing down a person's self worth is nutrition, or lack thereof, in the American diet. How much high caloric, addictive crap food one ingests may be the most incriminating factor in mental meltdowns. One hears often of "the childhood obesity epidemic" as one only hears about bullying in the grade school situation, but by far, both of these conditions are larger and more dangerous among adults.

This time of year many state and county fairs are in session. When you go, or amongst any large cross section of the population assembled, be honest and objective. Look. See what a bunch of blubber butts Americans have become. At the county fair I attended, the Tilt-A-Whirl broke down. It couldn't handle the weight. This was in an area, Northern Illinois, with the world's best soil and the heart of the breadbasket of the world. These farmers didn't even eat their own crop.

It's very easy to sound mean to those people that should be 10 feet tall on the body weight/height chart. I would rather not be this way, but these fat people didn't get that way overnight. Much of it is economic, the poor simply can't afford fresh vegetables and fruits. I also know they were born with a brain and as there pants sizes got larger they kept eating Big Macs and supersizing the fries. Let's not forget to mention the 32 oz Coke that leads each and every lumbering step. I'm not talking about carrying a few extra pounds, I'm talking FAT.

At the California State Fair, an entrepeneur had 100 battery operated three-wheel carts to rent by the hour. They were snatched up immediately because some people couldn't walk the 50 yards that separated the deep-fried Twinkie and Corn Dog wagons. It became an absurd situation of Obese People bumper cars, or the little horn would remind you to move over so Tubby could get by. If there is a stock tip here, invest in any type of mobility device for the overweight, disabled, elderly fellow Americans that can't live a life without it.

Recently, at a popular tourist stop, I watched a bus load of older people unload to view the exhibits. I was appalled at how immobile they all were. Actually, quite helpless and it was very sad. There were older folks, but most couldn't have been too much over 60 years of age. They were in pitiful shape. They looked over medicated, lost, out of touch with their surroundings and themselves. Like they couldn't save themselves if they had to. It's all disturbing to me.

These are comments are of particular events. I know they sound mean-spirited, but I want the reader to wake up to what they are shoving down their gullets. Please understand the connection between mental and physical health. Crap food will lead to dead people walking (or just trying to).

Next, the spiritual wasteland that is American popular culture.....

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sns-ap-eu-oecd-getting-fatter,0,6072194.story

Welcome To America

2010-09-15T14:34:00.001-07:00

It Just Happened:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jtSfPUlJn7oUv4nT-KF2Kqs7J6mQD9I8IIR82

Prosecutors said the bullying went on for three months and that Phoebe's last day hours before her suicide were filled with near-constant bullying, including being hit with a beverage container as she walked home from school.

They Keep On Coming

2010-09-10T06:49:00.004-07:00

Work Kills:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/front_page/102604654.html?cmpid=15585797

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-us-food-plant-shooting,0,78633.story

Thursday's shootings came weeks after a driver who had been accused of stealing from a Manchester, Conn., beer distributorship shot and killed eight people and then himself.

Somewhere In The Channel Islands

2010-09-07T12:02:00.005-07:00

"A man may destroy everything within himself, love and hate and belief, and even doubt, but as long as he clings to life he cannot destroy fear; the fear, subtle, indestructible, and terrible, that pervades his being; that tinges his thoughts on his lips the struggle of his last breath."

-Joseph Conrad, "The Outpost"

****************

I recently read "The Four Agreements" by Ruiz. It's a self-help book, no pretense there. It purports to use the Toltec tradition and apply it to modern society. It guarantees some form of happiness and control in your life and I wouldn't doubt that it may. We are taught these concepts as children: Do unto others… If you can't say anything nice… don't make an ASS out of U and ME… A man's word is his bond. As an adult it is nice to be reminded not to throw sand in the sandbox and how malicious gossip is for relationship building.

As in the movie "Doubt", those filmmakers took on the subject of Uber-mentor Roman Catholic priest with frankness and a challenge to the audience. When the priest was confronted with the accusation of his attentions to a young boy in the parish were more than guidance, he delivered a sermon the next Sunday about opening a feather pillow on the highest roof in town, and then the effort of retrieving every feather. That is what gossip does. Goes out and is unconfined. I'm sure all of us has been a victim of character assasination. It's hard to deal with.

- One of the Four Agreements, the one I find most profound is "Don't take anything personally." I look back on the positions I put myself in and the over-ego-ed, insecure behavior that was. I see it in other people and how much distress it causes emotionally. It's easy to say "Let It Go", much more difficult to live it. This is the one that has brought me the most challenge and peace. Know that people around you, especially the most loved, will blab out the most mean hurtful stuff. The wicked tongue can't be listened to.

The other three are:

- "Be good to your Word" - Simple, but in the world of spin, white lies, collective conscious agreement on falsehoods, maintaining this concept on a daily basis is another story. This modern, high tech society is finding it harder and harder to separate fantasy from reality from self interest. Showing up on time is a start on the way to respect.

- "Don't ever assume" - It takes an aware person to be able to remove his/herself from their own thought patterns and confront the falsehoods that may appear worth fighting for. The mind, it seems to me, doesn't have a value system and if the rational needs an answer the emotional may respond with an illusion of Truth. "Be true to yourself" was better said by Billy Shakespeare. This concept is intimately tied to living in the moment since moving forward with conviction takes a focused effort and falsehoods, or assumptions, always push back.

-"Always Do Your Best"… an age old canard worthy of repetition. Where the learning process comes in I believe, is the flipside and having compassion for yourself when your "best" isn't always good enough. Going into an endeavor with enthusiasm doesn't guarantee success, now what? Of course, enter into every project giving your best effort, being honest with yourself, will give you peace of mind. Guilt, "I could have done more", has to be handled in the process.

The connections of these Four Agreements are the strength of the argument. Taken one at a time, it's too simple, but when combined together its power of mind reveals itself. Being Good To Your Word and Always Do Your Best sound like a surefire way to run a successful business., especially with Never Taking Anything Personal. "It's just business." Never Assume would sure help in my personal life backed up by My Good Word. Always Doing My Best is a work-in-progress, the glue and foundation that weaves through the fabric. Being honest with oneself seems to be its aura.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX90DZq2OLA&feature=player_embedded

Boss of Nothing

2010-09-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

Civil Rights:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/tescos-us-operation-accused-of-bullying-staff-2068104.html

European multinationals are exploiting America's weak labour laws to suppress unions, claims report by Human Rights Watch

So Much Pollution

2010-09-02T15:36:00.002-07:00

Know What Is Around You:

http://www.henrymakow.com/musicalscale.html

Mr. Vincent was a professional musician for 7 years and has a very nice collection of guitars along with a wonderful Yamaha keyboard. He has had a passionate love of music since age 6 -- while most children had a TV for a baby sitter, he had a radio -- and controlled that dial!

Resilience

2010-08-31T10:34:00.002-07:00

New Thinking Needed:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-new-resilience/201008/psychologically-unhealthy-work-management-human-rights-violation

... a survey of 8000 workers across all age groups and occupations by Concours Group found that the most productive, energized workers gravitate towards companies that provide opportunities for ongoing learning, growth and creative challenge. They want their work to have a positive impact on something more meaningful than just the narrower rewards of money, position, or power. They also want the service or product they work on to have a positive impact on people's lives.

Help Is Out There

2010-08-30T19:50:00.001-07:00

You Are Not Alone:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-met-trice-therapy-0830-20100830,0,2854732.column

He said no one should feel ashamed about needing help or a support system.

"In these times, especially, people are feeling so overburdened," he said. "It's important for them to know they have a place to go and some of us have been there."

For more information, contact Metropolitan Family Services at 773-371-2900.

Wheels Inside Wheels

2010-08-28T20:11:00.001-07:00

Everything had changed suddenly - the tone, the moral climate; you didn't know what to think, whom to listen to. As if all your life you had been led by the hand like a small child and suddenly you were on your own, you had to learn to walk by yourself. There was no one around, neither family nor people whose judgement you respected. At such a time you felt the need of committing yourself to something absolute - life or truth or beauty - of being ruled by it in place of the man-made rules that had been discarded. You needed to surrender to some such ultimate purpose more fully, more unreservedly than you had ever done in the old familiar, peaceful days, in the old life that was now abolished and gone for good.

Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago

Fat, as in, Phat

2010-08-23T12:36:00.003-07:00

I pledge allegiance to all beef patties of the United States of America,

and to the special sauce for which it stands, one lettuce, under cheese,

indivisible, with pickles, and justice on a sesame seed bun, for all.

-Morgan Spurlock, Don't Eat This Book - Fast Food and the Supersizing of America 2005

*************

Umm, Humm Aunt Bee...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7959380/Burger-King-introduces-the-2500-Pizza-Burger.html

Burger King, the fast food chain, is to introduce the 'Pizza Burger’, a 2,520-calorie covered in mozzarella, pepperoni and pesto and marinara sauce.

Nature Protests

2010-08-20T14:01:00.003-07:00

Watch Video. They Look Like Quakers:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/20/whales-washed-up-new-zealand

More than 50 whales die after being washed up on New Zealand beach

Microcosm of Life

2010-08-17T08:32:00.002-07:00

De-humanization Work Has Its Costs:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/9222046

Records obtained by The Associated Press show that at least 15 agents have taken their own lives since February 2008 — the largest spike in suicides the agency has seen in at least 20 years.

..."It's a microcosm of life," said Christine Gaugler, head of human resources for Customs and Border Protection, the agency that oversees the Border Patrol. "There's no uptick. It has nothing to do with our hiring. We are just responding to the suicides that have occurred."

Blog Over... Done

2010-08-16T11:33:00.001-07:00

Honestly, Is This A Good Thing?:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20012469-10391704.html

Dr Robert Sapolsky, a neuroscience professor at Stanford, says after 30 years of studying stress, his team might be on the verge of a novel cure.

"To be honest, I'm still amazed that it works," Sapolsky told Wired in an August profile.

Sapolsky has long theorized that, unlike some animals, humans are unable to turn off stress chemicals used for the fight-or-flight mechanism. A class of hormone called glucocorticoids are one of the chief offenders, according to Sapolsky.

So his team has pioneered a way to bootstrap a "herpes virus to carry engineered 'neuroprotective' genes deep into the brain to neutralize the rogue hormones before they can cause damage," according to the Daily Mail.

Sounds properly science fiction, but will it work?

So far, rat studies have gone well, according to the British paper. Human trials are still years away.

Until then, don't give up your yoga mat.

Here's Looking At You, kid

2010-08-15T19:57:00.002-07:00

Mirror To Self:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism

Hotchkiss identified what she called the seven deadly sins of narcissism:^[16]

Shamelessness - Shame is the feeling that lurks beneath all unhealthy narcissism, and the inability to process shame in healthy ways.
Magical thinking - Narcissists see themselves as perfect using distortion and illusion known as magical thinking. They also use projection to dump shame onto others.
Arrogance - A narcissist who is feeling deflated may reinflate by diminishing, debasing, or degrading somebody else.
Envy - A narcissist may secure a sense of superiority in the face of another person's ability by using contempt to minimize the other person.
Entitlement - Narcissists hold unreasonable expectations of particularly favorable treatment and automatic compliance because they consider themselves special. Any failure to comply will be considered an attack on their superiority and the perpetrator is considered to be an "awkward" or "difficult" person. Defiance of their will is a narcissistic injury that can trigger narcissistic rage.
Exploitation - can take many forms but always involves the exploitation of others without regard for their feelings or interests. Often the other is in a subservient position where resistance would be difficult or even impossible. Sometimes the subservience is not so much real as assumed.
Bad Boundaries - narcissists do not recognize that they have boundaries and that others are separate and are not extensions of themselves. Others either exist to meet their needs or may as well not exist at all. Those who provide narcissistic supply to the narcissist will be treated as if they are part of the narcissist and be expected to live up to those expectations. In the mind of a narcissist, there is no boundary between self and other.

Here They Come

2010-08-12T15:50:00.002-07:00

Future Is Now:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/la-heb-college-20100812,0,436641.story

The number of college students who are afflicted with a serious mental illness is rising, according to data presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Assn. in San Diego

Another EWS Recruit

2010-08-11T11:54:00.004-07:00

ey*The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. We will not solve the problems of the world from the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. More than anything else, this new century demands new thinking: We must change our materially based analyses of the world around us to include broader, more multidimensional perspectives."

~Albert Einstein*

****************************

Fuck Off Airlines:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/08/09/2010-08-09_talk_about_turbulance_jetblue_flight_attendant_drops_intercom_fbomb_bolts_down_e.html

After he was bonked in the head by a bag, Steven Slater stunned passengers by spewing profanity and ranting about quitting as the flight from Pittsburgh pulled up to the gate about noon.

"To the f-----g a--hole who told me to f--k off, it's been a good 28 years," Slater, 38, purred, cops said. "I've had it. That's it," he added, a passenger said.

The mad-as-hell steward grabbed a couple of brewskis and popped one open before activating the emergency exit, witnesses told airport employees.

After tossing his two carry-on bags on the slide, he followed them to the tarmac.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/08/09/2010-08-09_talk_about_turbulance_jetblue_flight_attendant_drops_intercom_fbomb_bolts_down_e.html#ixzz0wKDsrWoO

David Yamada

2010-07-30T06:47:00.000-07:00

How we bash every vocation

“Oh those lawyers…”
“Oh those CEOs…”
“Oh those contractors…”
“Oh those politicians…”
“Oh those doctors…”
“Oh those pro athletes…”
“Oh those cab drivers…”
“Oh those accountants”
“Oh those bureaucrats…”
“Oh those public schoolteachers…”
“Oh those sales clerks…”
“Oh those reporters…”
“Oh those social workers…”
“Oh those investment bankers…”

Have you thought about how many vocations are subjected to easy put downs starting with “Oh those…,” followed by a story? I have done so myself, and I can’t promise that I won’t do it again. (This, coming from the lips of a lawyer!)

So what?

I’m not 100 percent certain what the “takeaway” points are from this, but let me give it a shot:

First, if a vocation has a poor reputation, there often are elements of truth behind it. (Believe me, I get it when people complain about the legal profession.)

Second, regardless of whether the negative characterizations are fair or unfair, their prevalence is making us very cynical toward our fellow workers. And a lot of us may be tossing these bricks from some pretty big picture windows.

Finally, if we want to improve the world of work and the products and services we all provide, then we need to ask hard questions of ourselves, our vocations, and our attitudes.

PUBLISHED IN: BUSINESS ETHICS CREATING GOOD JOBS CAREER PLANNING EXPERIENCE OF WORK LEARNING ABOUT WORK MEANINGFUL WORK ON JULY 27, 2010 AT 1:35 AM LEAVE A COMMENT
TAGS: BUSINESS ETHICS, CAREER PLANNING, LEARNING ABOUT WORK, MEANINGFUL WORK, CREATING GOOD JOBS

It Will End

2010-07-29T12:34:00.000-07:00

Not Chickens, But Roosting:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/army-stressed-decade-war/story?id=11277253

The number of soldiers committing suicide has increased since 2004, surpassing civilian rates in 2008. Use of prescription drugs has tripled in the past five years; prescription amphetamines use has doubled between 2006 and 2009. One third of soldiers take at least one prescription drug and 14 percent of soldiers are on some form of powerful painkiller.

What's Positive About War?:

2010-07-22T15:06:00.002-07:00

Bruce E. Levine is a clinical psychologist and his latest book is SurvivingAmerica’s Depression Epidemic: How to Find Morale, Energy, and Community in a World Gone Crazy (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2007). His Web site iswww.brucelevine.net

http://www.counterpunch.org/levine07222010.html

While positive psychology makes some sense for teenagers who are catastrophizing their first relationship breakup to the point of becoming suicidal, how much sense does it make to teach soldiers who are trying to stay alive in a war zone to put a positive spin on everything?

Georgia On My Mind

2010-07-19T07:15:00.004-07:00

One can't say anything one wants whenever one wants to say it. Freedom involves thoughtfulness. Careful thought will lead to mindful speech and then to to compassionate action. Too much energy is wasted trying to put angry words back into someone's mouth. Too much time is lost spinning those words around in our heads. Look forward, walk forward, think forward and the angry, the unmindful, the mean-spirited, the lost and frightened people surrounding you will not leave an impression.

60,000 thoughts a day occur. One out of eight are in the conscious. It takes work to regulate those instances. Imagine when delving deeper and confronting your own very disturbing sub-conscious? Thoughts in and of themselves are not good or bad. What rises to the surface is presented without a value system. It is you that decides what is important and what should be discarded. It is you that attaches an emotion in mental reflex. It is you that opens your mouth and shares it vocally giving the idea life. Once born, it has to be dealt with.

Thinking, Speaking, Doing. Thought, Word, Deed. All connected and consistent leading to a meaningful life. It's a hard practice with many shortcomings. Shake them off and proceed accordingly. The mind gushes, the larynx vibrates, the body moves and they all must have reason of certainty and a direction of purpose.

Morally Corrupt Society

2010-07-17T07:39:00.000-07:00

Hang On Tight. The Ship Is Going Down:

http://cindysheehanssoapbox.blogspot.com/2010/07/requiem-for-antiwar-movement-by-cindy.html

I promise that I am not writing this because I am holding protests and no one is coming—these thoughts have been percolating in me for months now. (Note: Remember that old saying: “What if they gave a war and nobody came?” Well, here in DC I am living the opposite: “What if they gave an antiwar protest and nobody came?”)

They Are Working For You

2010-07-16T09:57:00.002-07:00

Have The Decency Not To Die At Work:

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Marketing-Serotonin-Defici-by-Dr-Stuart-Jeanne-B-100713-513.html

However most animal testing of new antidepressants is based on the "learned helplessness" model and involves submitting mice and rats to traumatic stress levels of stress. In the most common experiment, mice are dropped into a large vat of water and the researcher times how long they keep swimming before they give up. After taking a dose of Prozac, they swim longer before giving up.

Bastille Day, Et Tu Soldier?

2010-07-14T14:26:00.002-07:00

To Whom May He Be Addressing?

http://www.counterpunch.org/moses07142010.html

I just want to say that based upon my observation of a few dozen glowing faces this past weekend at the convention of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) many of whom qualify as name droppable because you have heard of them and from them during this despicable first decade of the 21st Century--I just want to report that resistance is the health of the people.

Christian Comics

2010-07-13T07:45:00.003-07:00

"God battles Man. Man battles God

God battles Nature. Nature battles God.

Man battles Nature. Nature battles Man.

It's a funny religion."

DT Suzuki, summarizing the Bible.

The Monday Toll

2010-07-12T13:05:00.001-07:00

So, Which One Was It?:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-ap-us-office-shooting,0,3537980.story

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A gunman opened fire at an Albuquerque fiber optics manufacturer on Monday, killing five people and wounding four others before turning the gun on himself in what police said was a domestic violence dispute.

...Schultz said the gunman was a former employee, but did not release his name.

(again, that obsession with naming rather things than doing things)

http://www.joebageant.com/joe/2007/04/redneck_liberat.html

http://www.joebageant.com/

2010-07-11T21:43:00.003-07:00

Best Essay of the Year (JJ recommended):

http://www.counterpunch.org/bageant07092010.html

However, the unasked question still hangs in the air: Does the money economy even exist anymore? Is it still there? (was it ever?) Or are we all blindly going through the motions because:

A: we do not understand that, for all practical historical purposes, it's over;

B: we do not know how to do anything else so we keep dancing with the corpse of the hyper-capitalist economy;

C: the right calamity has not come down the pike to knock us loose from the spell of the dance, or

D: we're so friggin brain dead, commodities engorged and internally colonized by capitalist industrialism that nobody cares, and therefore it no longer matters.

This is multiple choice, and it counts ten points toward survival, come the collapse.

Emotion Is Contagious

2010-07-09T07:42:00.001-07:00

Surround Yourself With Kind People:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/la-heb-sadness-happiness-infectious-diseases-20100708,0,2480069.story

When the information was put into a traditional infectious-disease simulation, slightly modified to reflect the unique qualities of emotional spread rather than actual disease, the researchers found a correlation between an individual's emotional state and those of the person's contacts.

In other words, it appears that you can catch happiness. Or sadness. Moreover, the "recovery time" doesn't depend on your contacts at all, which is a hallmark of diseases but surprising in an emotional context, since continuing contact with happy or sad people could be expected to affect one's emotional state even after the initial "infection."

On the other hand, sadness is more contagious than happiness: A single discontent contact doubles one's chances of becoming unhappy, while a happy contact increases the probability of becoming content by only 11%.

As You Watch The Fireworks

2010-07-04T13:57:00.000-07:00

"And it seems to me perfectly in the cards that there will be within the next generation or so a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing … a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda, brainwashing, or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods."
Aldous Huxley, 1959

Om mani padme hum

2010-07-02T06:51:00.001-07:00

Take Back Your Life:

http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content?oid=1447679

New UC Davis study finds that practicing meditation can indeed improve perception

Sport Meltdown

2010-06-29T20:22:00.001-07:00

Competition Will Do That To You:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0629-cubs-brite--20100628,0,6093614.story

After years of dealing with Carlos Zambrano's outbursts, the Cubs finally convinced their emotional right-hander to face the problem head-on.

Zambrano will be placed on the restricted list Tuesday after serving a three-game suspension for his actions Friday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field, then will receive treatment for his anger issues before returning after the All-Star break.

"Hopefully he goes and gets the help he needs and can rectify some of his actions with his teammates and be able to move forward after the break," general manager Jim Hendry said while announcing the penalty.

Whoo! Whoo!

2010-06-28T17:14:00.000-07:00

June 28, 2010

Virgo (8/23-9/22)
Different ideas don't make you a misfit -- far from it. In fact, you might actually be something of a visionary, especially if you have faith in the soundness of your beliefs. It's too easy to feel discouraged if people whose opinions you care about don't immediately support what you're telling them, but remember that no one believed that the world is round at first, either. Keep on pushing and thinking long-term.

WBI Newsletter and Survey

2010-06-27T17:35:00.001-07:00

The Newsletter of the Workplace Bullying Institute

June 25, 2010 New WBI Survey

We feel compelled to ask some vital questions to understand the truthfulness of the HR and biz groups who complain that bullying is currently handled in an adequate manner.

Go here to complete the anonymous online survey.

http://workdoctorsurveys.com/0710wbi/startsurvey.php

Healthy Workplace Advocates

2010-06-22T13:07:00.003-07:00

California Healthy Workplace Advocates
June 19, 2010

I. Mission -The mission of the California Healthy Workplace Advocates is to raise public awareness and to compel our State to correct and prevent abusive work environments through legislation.

Our meeting was awesome...lots of new members, many regulars. Thank you to ALL who attended. Check out the links on the activities across the nation and the WORLD regarding workplace bullying. Hope to see many of you next meeting on Saturday, July31st.

A. Seventh International Conference on Workplace Bullying and Harassment in Cardiff, Wales gets a discussion on Scottish university blog: http://news.glam.ac.uk/news/en/2010/may/27/economic-downturn-affects-workplace-bullying-and-h/

B. Dr. Gary Namie of The Workplace Bullying Institute guest speaks on Wisconsin National Public Radio after bullying bill is killed in WI House Labor Committee - http://safetyatworkblog.wordpress.com/2010/05/31/us-workplace-bullying-interview-with-gary-namie/

C. Professor David Yamada, writer of the prototype workplace bullying bill, keynotes the Cardiff conference and blogs its course: http://newworkplace.wordpress.com/2010/06/02/cardiff-workplace-bullying-conference-day-1/.

D. New York coordinator's blog entry appears in New York's Rochester Democrat & Chronicle: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100525/LOCAL17/5170333/Advocates-discuss-Healthy-Workplace-bill

E. New York bill's existence is bemoaned on Wall Street Journal, New York Post, and Forbes legal blogs:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704717004575268701579722946.html?KEYWORDS=Workplace+Bullying+Bill andhttp://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/jobs/bully_pulpit_69oynw2yHURADrQWXlzN9N andhttp://blogs.forbes.com/docket/2010/05/28/new-york-anti-bullying-law-a-big-bad-idea/

F. Just like Illinois, New York'sHealthy Workplace Bill is put on Hold by Democratic lower house labor committee's chairperson: http://www.healthyworkplacebill.org/states/ny/newyork.php

G. Illinois State Representative, Eddie Washington, crusading sponsor of the Illinois Abusive Work Environments Act, dies of heart attack at age 56:
http://www.healthyworkplacebill.org/states/il/illinois.php

H. Wiki Answers addresses question on Workplace Bullying, but needs work: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Responsibilities_of_a_workplace_bullying

II. Bullying in Media

A. British Petroleum exposed on PBS for scaring would-be whistleblowers with hostile work environment: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/video/need-to-know-june-11-2010/1457/

B. Taiwan technology manufacturer (Foxconn)is under investigation after multiple worker suicides: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/26/AR2010052604793.html?nav=hcmoduletmv and http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2010/05/26/VI2010052603996.html
and http://www.reuters.com/news/video/story?videoId=92812503&videoChannel=5 andhttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/technology/27suicide.html?ref=business

C. Sacramento Bee blogger writes about women bullying women after Carly Fiorina makes a catty comment regarding Senator Barbara Boxer's hairstyle:
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/16/2825286/so-much-for-the-new-feminism-in.html?mi_pluck_action=comment_submitted&qwxq=3341473#Comments_Container
More on Fiorina's remarks on ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Media/carly-fiorinas-dig-sen-barbara-boxer-spurred-debate/story?id=10909662

D. Law & Order signs off on the Rubber Room incarceration for teachers:http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/law-order-signs-off-in-the-rubber-room/
And: Teacher wins case dismissal against him and Rubber Rooms are forever closed down: http://www.endteacherabuse.info/Pakter.html

E. A retired Navy captain who has filed several discrimination suits sits in limbo:http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20100618_VA_official_gets_big_pay_little_work.html

III. Climate at our Capitol

A. Lawsuit against Meg Whitman exposes candidate as workplace bully -http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2010/06/meg-whitman-guilty-of-workplace-violence-in-2007-incident/and http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=10918022

B. University of California asks Chamber of Commerce to remove their UC name from Chamber's political literature which claims exposing dangers of toxic mold hurts business: http://freepdfhosting.com/e88548fd20.pdf

IV.Announcements

A. Women's hearts are at risk from stress at work (A Study of Danish Nurses):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/may/05/women-heart-attack-stress

B. American Psychological Association writes that healthier workplaces make for better bottom lines: http://www.apa.org/monitor/2010/05/slc-workplaces.aspx

C. Executive Healthcare Blog (May 5, 2010)--The Effects of Workplace Stress:
http://www.executivehm.com/news/effects-of-workplace-stress/

D. Bully bosses˜Wall of Fame: http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/05/bullying-bosses-executives-leadership-careers-gorilla_slide.html?partner=seealso
E. Supreme Court effectively cancels 600 decisions by the National Labor Relations Act:

E. Supreme Court effectively cancels 600 National Labor Relation Board decisions: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/17/AR2010061705685.html?hpid=topnews.

Monday Report

2010-06-21T07:31:00.000-07:00

Long Hot Summer II:

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/06/toddler-among-14-shot-overnight-throughout-city.html

At least 40 people were shot over the weekend across Chicago, with seven of them slain, according to police logs.

Me and Joe Hill

2010-06-18T07:58:00.001-07:00

Living In A Civilized Country:

http://www.sltrib.com/D=g/ci_15325356

About two minutes passed after the gunshots. It was long enough that I wondered (and some of my colleagues later said they wondered, too) whether Gardner would require a second volley of bullets to die.

Leadership Defined

2010-06-15T15:32:00.004-07:00

Allies LikeThese...:

http://legalienate.blogspot.com/2010/06/psychiatrist-of-israeli-prime-minister.html

“I can’t take it anymore,” wrote Yatom. “Robbery is redemption, apartheid is freedom, peace activists are terrorists, murder is self-defense, piracy is legality, Palestinians are Jordanians, annexation is liberation, there’s no end to his contradictions. Freud promised rationality would reign in the instinctual passions, but he never met Bibi Netanyahu. This guy would say Gandhi invented brass knuckles.”

One Lone Crazy Gunman (Again)

2010-06-05T06:33:00.003-07:00

Bickled:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/10244223.stm
The 52-year-old taxi driver shot 12 people dead in Cumbria before shooting himself on Wednesday.

"Detectives are focusing on several key areas and are working to verify suggestions that Bird was involved in personal disputes with fellow taxi drivers, or others," he said.

***

One Lone Crazy Car Man:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/04/BAHH1DQ6Q4.DTL&tsp=1

The attacks began at 9:43 p.m. Wednesday on a quiet stretch of Harrison Street, near 23rd Street in the Mission District.
Witnesses said the SUV came speeding south on the street, hit the first bicyclist head on, and then hit the second less than a block away at 24th Street.
The driver roared east about a mile to the corner of 23rd and Pennsylvania streets, where he hit the third cyclist. Then he sped several blocks north to Potrero Hill, where he hit his last victim at the corner of Missouri and 17th streets and slammed to a stop against a light pole.
The driver ran away, witnesses said, leaving shattered pieces of his vehicle and a parked Jeep that he also hit.

These Days

2010-06-03T07:27:00.003-07:00

Sadly, In Different Ways, Too:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/comments_blog/2010/06/sack-tapping-a-silly-game-with-serious-consequences.html

Sack tapping is the latest dangerous craze to hit schools. The object of the game is to punch (or slap, flick or actually tap) a boy in the groin to see who can handle the most pain. It doesn't sound like there can be a clear winner here in this "game." And sadly, there isn't.

42 Days

2010-05-28T05:50:00.001-07:00

42 Days For Total Alienation:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/tenth-worker-at-ipad-factory-commits-suicide-1982897.html

The Foxconn factory in the southern Chinese boom town of Shenzhen is so vast that walking around its outer perimeter takes two hours. Its workers turn out components that are supplied to big Western electronics brands including Nokia, Hewlett-Packard and Dell. And it is here that most of the parts for Apple's iPhone, and the much-awaited iPad, which goes on sale in the UK this week, are manufactured.

Yesterday, Li Hai, a 19-year-old employee of the firm, jumped from the top of the building in Shenzhen to his death. It brought the number of suspected suicides at the factory this year to 10. There have been another two attempted suicides.

All of the deaths have been of youngsters between 18 and 25 years old. Li Hai had only been working at the plant for 42 days. The incidents have prompted intense soul-searching in China, about conditions in its factories and the social cost of breakneck economic development.

Weekend RoundUp

2010-05-24T07:06:00.002-07:00

123/78/69

Long Hot Summer:

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/05/at-least-8-people-shot-one-dead-on-south-side.html

At least nine people were shot on a hot night in Chicago, and one of them was killed, authorities said. No one was in custody for any of the shootings this morning.

Big Problems Simple Solutions

2010-05-21T13:46:00.003-07:00

Man, I Loved That Movie:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7131555.ece

A breakthrough may lie in the hands of a Hollywood actor. Where the collective prowess of the oil industry has failed, Kevin Costner believes he may succeed after paying scientists millions of dollars to come up with an ocean-cleaning device — inspired by his 1995 film Waterworld — that could mitigate the environmental catastrophe.

What's Next?:

http://www.rense.com/general90/grow.htm

Besides the chronically homeless, comprising about 18% of the total, homelessness results from factors including poverty, job loss, home foreclosure, loss of public assistance, divorce, domestic violence, drug or alcohol abuse, serious illness, mental illness, unaffordable housing, the lack of emergency help, and a federal government that doesn't give a damn.

Tune In:

http://www.counterpunch.org/

The US position is that the biggest nuclear threat in the world today comes from those who do not have nuclear weapons, or whose nuclear armory is diminutive to the point of invisibility, and that global security is properly vested in the hands of those who have substantial nuclear arsenals, starting with the only country that has actually dropped nuclear bombs—and indeed lost them (eleven in the case of the United States since 1945).

Feed The Apple Monster

2010-05-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

Works Kills The Soul:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/malcolmmoore/100039883/what-has-triggered-the-suicide-cluster-at-foxconn/

Liu also wrote about the lack of connections in such a giant factory, with its transient population of workers. “There are hundreds of thousands of workers but they find they come to resemble each other. Dorm mates on different shifts barely get a chance to talk to each other, and even if you have slept in a dorm a few months you might not know the name of your room mates,” described Liu.

“If society is like a net, you can hardly become suicidal if you are in the position of a knot with many layers of connections. But if you have no links, other than on the production line, then you become one single and unconnected knot. Then you get suicidal facing a machine all day and with no way of releasing your anxiety like normal people.”

CBC Idea 05162010

2010-05-17T06:11:00.002-07:00

Next Book On The Shelf:

http://www.amazon.com/Cure-Within-History-Mind-Body-Medicine/dp/0393065634

FFrom Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Over the past several years, numerous medical reports have confirmed the connection between a positive mental attitude and good physical health. In this splendid book, Harrington (The Placebo Effect), chair of Harvard's history of science department, demonstrates that the belief in such a connection between mind and body is nothing new. She uses case studies and stories of healings to show how deeply embedded the idea of positive mental health is in the quest for physical health, as well as the ways that contemporary medicine has incorporated a focus on mind-body healing into its black bag. In her highly original analysis of this history from ancient times to the present, she discovers six different narratives about mind-body healing. These include the power of suggestion, the power of positive thinking and broken by modern life. In the body that speaks narrative, for instance, Harrington traces the idea that physical symptoms are the outward expression of the mind's secrets, and that revealing those secrets can heal, whether the revelation takes place in the confession box or on the analyst's couch. Harrington's study offers a first-rate cultural history of an age-old but still much debated topic.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Break The Abuse Cycle

2010-05-15T12:44:00.001-07:00

Ward Churchill -

… (I)n order for Europe to do what it has done to us - in fact, for Europe to become "Europe" at all -- it first had to do the same thing to all of you. In other words, to become a colonizing culture, Europe had first to colonize itself. To the extant that this true, I find it fair to say that if our struggle must be explicitly anticolonial… yours must be even more so. You have, after all, been colonized for far longer than we, and therefore much more completely. In fact, your colonization has by now been consolidated to such an extant that … you no longer even see yourselves as having been colonized. The result is that you've become self-colonizing, conditioned to be so self-identified with your own oppression that you've lost your ability to see it for what it is, much less to resist it in any coherent way. ("Indians" 236)

FACISM GENOCIDE And EXTINCTION: An Indictment Against Civilization

By, Sean Swain

South Chicago ABC Zine Distro

P.O. Box 721

Homewood, IL 60430

You Lookin' At Me?

2010-05-14T05:53:00.001-07:00

No Place Safe:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/malcolmmoore/100039649/the-kindergarten-murders-show-fear-and-loathing-has-crept-into-china/

There’s an echo of Travis Bickle, the protagonist of Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, in each of the kindergarten killers. These are middle-aged men, left on the fringes of society, whose alienation and loneliness manifests itself in extreme violence.

Problem Solution

2010-05-11T08:05:00.001-07:00

Drugs To Go To Work:

http://www.counterpunch.org/rosenberg05102010.html

Do you work in customer service? Health care? The restaurant industry? You might be suffering fromshift work sleep disorder(SWSD) says a new ad campaign from Frazer, PA-based Cephalon who makes the Schedule IV stimulants Provigil and Nuvigil. One out of four people working nontraditional schedules suffers from this hitherto unrecognized epidemic say radio ads which broke this week here in Chicago.

Hit Him Again

2010-05-08T14:40:00.002-07:00

New Technology In The Workplace:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/05/06/tsa.scanner.assault/?hpt=T3

A TSA worker at Miami International Airport in Florida was arrested for allegedly assaulting a co-worker who had repeatedly teased him about the size of his genitals.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2010/0506101tsa1.html

Om Is Where The Heart Is

2010-05-07T07:45:00.001-07:00

Give It A Try, Doesn't Hurt:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/may/03/repetitive-physics-om-improbable-research?showallcomments=true#end-of-comments

At the end, Gurjar and Ladhake say: "Our attentiveness and our concentration are pilfered from us by the proceedings take place around us in the world in recent times ... By this analysis we could conclude steadiness in the mind is achieved by chanting Om, hence proves the mind is calm and peace to the human subject."

Women In The News

2010-05-04T06:25:00.003-07:00

Could Be Anyone:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-05-03-target-stabbing_N.htm

"Her facial expression was someone who was lost, confused, didn't know exactly where they were," Grant said.

**********

Don't Tease:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-bat-attack-follow-20100503,0,2851390.story

Marcy Cruz was not taking her medications for bipolar disorder last month at the time officials say she was involved in the savage baseball bat-beating of two women in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood, her father said Monday before a hearing on the case.

Shark Bait

2010-05-03T18:51:00.001-07:00

Identification (1) With No Solution:

http://health.yahoo.com/news/healthday/bulliestargetobesekids.html

New research suggests that just being overweight increases the risk of being bullied. And factors that usually play a role in the risk of being bullied, such as gender, race and family income levels, don't seem to matter if you're overweight -- being overweight or obese trumps all those other factors when it comes to aggressive behavior from other children

No War But Class War

2010-05-01T07:51:00.001-07:00

http://blip.tv/file/3511374

Ye Shall Know Us By Our Sign

2010-04-30T07:43:00.003-07:00

Friends of Leon Berger Society

Communique #1: May Day weekend 2010

Reference: Post of February 9, 2009

Persons wishing to see the fulfillment of Mr Bergers' plans have swelled the membership to unprecedented levels. As we attend May Day ceremonies, festivities and events let's all recognize each other with a unifying symbol - a red thread tied around your neck will identify you as a friend and show gratitude to an innovative man. Time does not forget good ideas.

Another Isolated Incident

2010-04-29T05:24:00.001-07:00

It's Everywhere, man

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/world/asia/30china.html

BEIJING — An unemployed man entered a kindergarten in easternChina’s Jiangsu Province on Thursday morning and stabbed 28 kindergarten students and three adults, critically wounding at least five children, local authorities and state news agencies reported.

It was the second mass stabbing of young students in two days, and the third in less than a month.

Crazier Every Day

2010-04-28T07:58:00.001-07:00

1 in 76:

http://www.counterpunch.org/levine04282010.html

In, 1987, prior to Prozac hitting the market and the current ubiquitous use of antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs, the U.S. mental illness disability rate was 1 in every 184 Americans, but by 2007 the mental illness disability rate had more than doubled to 1 in every 76 Americans. Robert Whitaker was curious as to what was causing this dramatic increase in mental illness disability. The answers are in his new book, Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America (Crown Publishers, April 2010).

Room With A View

2010-04-26T08:33:00.005-07:00

I went to Labor Notes in Dearborn, MI this year. I was last there to promote labor/working class television to the labor movement 12 years ago. I was still trying to sell them on the wonderful technology of The Television over the weekend. I'll be back in 12 years to deliver the same message, I'm afraid. I understand the "How to Make a Flyer" workshop was well attended.

There is a stressful undercurrent among these folks. From the system tweakers to the bread and butter unionists to the Anarchist party on the Penthouse 14th floor because, after all, "they have the biggest vision.". A beautiful suite overlooking west Detroit, it was.

I went to the Building Trades bitch-a-thon. I'm glad I did because when it came time for me to speak, I vented 25 years of disgust of the way tradesmen treat each other. I informed them that their worst advertisement was themselves and asked, "Did you ever see you yahoos out in public with your union jackets and phony, tough guy, rude attitude?" This meme I held all weekend was to promote the idea the American working class is mentally ill, in the grips of some Child Abuse Syndrome, siblings quieting any dissent, dysfunction should be behind closed doors, systemic internal abuse in the hazing of apprenticeship, or the stated fact of Lisa, (I believe an IBEW electrician from Boston), that "after thirty years on a career track they hated, 55 year old white men are miserable." It was nice for a Sister to have my back after I had just told the lot (and they still think they are in a union) that they are mentally ill.

The discussion did spur some interesting stories as there were several women of the trades, apprentices and even a contractor from NYC. (... does not compute...) A brave ironworker apprentice from Nevada (?) told an awful story of an abusive teacher at the apprenticeship school and how she, and only she of a class of 28, stuck up for the one sorry target that this Bully choose to isolate. I called her classmates "cowards" (I knew I should have shut up then and there, but oh no) and stressed that this category is the most emotionally beat down group of workers at this conference. I mentioned the work of Kevin Lynch and Dr Donohue at the 134 IBEW and the 6hrs of seminars on "Emotional Intelligence" taught to the 3rd year apprentices.

Far and away, trying to change construction culture is the most neglected work being done. The labor movement doesn't need more members, it needs better quality of people and the Building Trades has a long way to go to be an asset if there ever is a "movement" in labor.

It felt good to vent, and I let out a blast of hot air at the Pension worry-a-thon. There is still a deep faith, especially among the State workers that pensions just need to be reformed. These gentle folks don't see a Ponzi Scheme when it slaps a wet mackeral across their chops. It's flipped, people with pensions are to be resented in this New World Economic Order. The ship has sailed on this issue, it's all swirling down the toilet in my opinion, and I agreed with the UE rep that wanted to form financial institutions of our own, sans Wall Street, and go back to pre-Taft Hartley Proudhonian thinking. It was interesting learning how through long process in the beginning of the century having health care and, possibly, a pension if tied you to your paycheck. It doesn't have to be that way. These patronizing dependence wage packages make a slave. You earn it, The Trust steal a clip on every hour worked. Put it all on the check, me and my friends in Mutual Aid will take care of ourselves, thank you.

After two hours of this jabber, it occurred to me that no one brought up the idea that stopping war funding might be a stimulus package and save their Golden Years assess. It worries me still how little the wars were even mentioned throughout the conference. Antiwar buttons and a workshop, for sure, but no out and out End The Wars appeal. It could be that I just wasn't there, too. US Labor Against the War (USLAW) did represent but the madness continues as the International Longshoreman and Wharehouse Union (ILWA) is forcing locals on the West Coast to handle Hot (Scab) Cargo. It seems further away from the idea of labor having any impact on the War Machine. If they are forced to handle hot cargo, they will be handing munitions and supplies for the duration, it seems to me. Antiwar group should be aware of the details in this case.

Always in the lib/lab/lefty event world, a swirl of absurdity held center stage. The organizers of the event held a protest against the Hyatt Hotel chain on behalf of the scabbed-out 100 Hyatt Hotel workers from Boston, in the lobby of the Hyatt Hotel of Dearborn, MI where the conference was being held.

The bi-annual Labor Notes conference should be credited in its promoting face-to-face interaction of like minded people that have some deep seated need to fight the alienation of the modern workplace. Small personal stories of bravery were quite inspirational. It takes a bit of diplomacy and presence to be with so many people all with different spots on the political time line. It was good for me to define myself amongst them, talking verbally with inflection and nuance, enjoying the facial expression of whom I'm speaking, and wonder how and when the next generation will slip down the digital matrix. When their personalities will merge through the USB port in the back of their heads. The final Tweet rapture.

When will the idea of computer software programs saving the working class wear out its shine?Another e-mail on the way to the Revolution ain't making it happen. The military created the Internet, they can make it all go away, too. Big Brother is here and the IBEW installed it. Cyberspace is so nebulous, making the photo erasures eliminating the foes of Uncle Joe historical narrative, seem like crayons in literature. Digital imagery is pure illusion, filter what you see and hear, doubt your senses. Data can go away to NoWhereLand, JeeBus, I'm still digging 10 year old Labor Note rags out of the back of my desk drawer. The difference of a good handshake/hug and a FaceBook friend is an issue and a reflection on what is needed in future struggles. So much of technology has alienated us from each other ever more, seemingly while emancipating us. The illusion is complete.

Only one place for discussion for what the world is going to look like in the future and I had to take the freight elevator to the 14th floor to find it. One obvious anarchist lifestyle attendee from Madison, WI stated he was in the Socialist Party branch. Asked politely, "How does that work?" He said he and his two friends joined and immediately had a majority and took over the group. This is an example of the great Red Threat existing in America today.

The Future is Cloudy

2010-04-22T04:20:00.006-07:00

Start "Em Young, Hooked Forever:

http://www.alternet.org/drugs/146551

The use of powerful antipsychotics with privately insured children, aged 2 through 5 in the US, doubled between 1999 and 2007, according to a study of data on more than one million children with private health insurance in the January, 2010, "Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry,"

The lead researcher on the study above, Columbia University psychiatry professor Mark Olfson, told Reuters that about 1.5% of all privately insured children between the ages of 2 and 5, or one in 70, received some type of psychiatric drug in 2007, be it an antipsychotic, a mood stabilizer, a stimulant or an antidepressant.

************************

If There Is Ever A Reason:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/20/hamas-burns-tramadol-painkillers-smuggled-gaza

Hamas officials in Gaza burned nearly 2 million painkiller tablets in a hospital incinerator today in a crackdown on a drug that has become an increasingly popular escape from the hardships of daily life.

"We're all living in a hard psychological situation and we used Tramadol to forget our daily worries and problems," Khalil, a 25-year-old student in Gaza City told the Associated Press. "I go to Tramadol so I can forget all that."

*******************

Help Is On The Way:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality

Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented byvirtual computer-generated imagery. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality in which a view of reality is modified (possibly even diminished rather than augmented) by a computer.

It's A Wonderful Life

2010-04-21T17:13:00.003-07:00

Clarence, Where Are You?:

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/04/man-rescued-from-chicago-river.html

A man who told police he "just wanted to go for a swim" apparently jumped into the Chicago River this morning near Clark Street and Wacker Drive, police said.

Good Germans Don't See It

2010-04-20T04:55:00.001-07:00

On Our Watch:

http://www.rense.com/general90/harmful.htm

Since 1970, the prison population exploded from under 300,000 to eight times that number now. In the December 1998 Atlantic, Eric Schlosser called it "The Prison-Industrial Complex," a recent phenomenon with about 1,000 new prisons and jails built in the 1980s and 90s, and the trend continues in the new millennium, not because of more crime, because of getting "tough" on it against more people getting longer sentences under harsher conditions.

Marc Mauer, author of "Race to Incarcerate," says America locks up people at five to eight times the rate of other industrialized nations, including many who shouldn't be there in the first place. Nearly two-thirds are blacks and Latinos. The vast majority are poor and disadvantaged. One in three black males and one in six Latino males will be imprisoned at some point in their lives. Black males are imprisoned at nine times the rate for whites, and in some states up to 26 times. Penalties include "mandatory minimums, one size fits all (and) three strikes and you're out."

Yet from 1970 - 1994, violent crime rates were stable, and the overall rate fell. The murder rate is the lowest since 1966, and from 1980 - 2000 it dropped 43%. It costs as much or more to imprison someone as send them to college and for older inmates three times as much. Higher incarceration rates for longer periods is unrelated to the crime rate. The prison-industrial complex is one of America's biggest growth industries, exceeding $60 billion annually, and private security adds another $100 billion. Crime fighters and prisoners comprise around 4% of the workforce.

Labor Beat: WTO Seatlle

2010-04-15T11:02:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Intrepid Labor Beat reporters get pushed, gassed and terrorized by domestic police forces on the streets of Seattle.