Just in case there was anyone left who didn’t think George W. Bush is a complete asshole:
For the first time, Bush revealed a personal way in which he has tried to acknowledge the sacrifice of soldiers and their families.
“I don’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf,” he said. “I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.”
Bush said he made that decision after the August 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, which killed Sergio Vieira de Mello, the top U.N. official in Iraq and the organization’s high commissioner for human rights.
“I remember when de Mello, who was at the U.N., got killed in Baghdad as a result of these murderers taking this good man’s life,” he said. “I was playing golf — I think I was in central Texas — and they pulled me off the golf course and I said, ‘It’s just not worth it anymore to do.’”
Two of the nation’s largest labor unions [SEIU and UNITE-HERE] have struck confidential agreements with large employers that give the companies the right to designate which of their locations, and how many workers, the unions can seek to organize.
The agreements are raising questions about union transparency and workers’ rights. A summary document put together by the unions says it is critical to the success of the partnership “that we honor the confidentiality and not publicly disclose the existence of these agreements.” That includes not disclosing them to union members.
Setting aside my doubts about the wisdom and efficacy of such agreements for unions and workers interested in effective representation, I wonder about their legality. There would appear to be at least some argument that these agreements interfere with the Section 7 rights of those employees who are designated as “off limits”, and thus amount to employer and union unfair labor practices. I’d be interested to see what the folks at Workplace Prof Blog have to say.
A detail in this story left me scratching my head in wonder. No, not the fact that a suspected child molester made his living as a Santa Claus impersonator; that is totally unsurprising. The perplexing bit is in here (emphasis added):
Neighbors and colleagues know Corliss, who acted under the stage name Casey Wayne, as a witty man who liked to write and eschewed 9-to-5 jobs in favor of acting and entertainment gigs. Judy Stone, a neighbor who worked with him at corporate parties, art fairs and bar mitzvahs, said he did a wonderful job.
Ummm, who the hell hires a Santa Claus impersonator for a bar mitzvah?!
I voted for Barack Obama in the North Carolina primary today. Not because I have been swept away by Obamania. To the contrary, I’m not at all convinced of Obama’s virtues.
I am, however, absolutely convinced of Hillary Clinton’s vices.
Barack Obama is not the progressive that some of his supporters naively imagine, let alone the leftist some of his detractors mendaciously contend. Far from the stealth socialist Democrat of my dreams, Obama is closer to the Rockefeller/Heinz wing of the GOP. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, is utterly Nixonian (indeed, she’s substantially to the right of Nixon in at least some aspects of economic policy).
I have little confidence that Obama will really withdraw the U.S. from Iraq and Afghanistan. I have even less confidence that he will really bring meaningful “change” to U.S. politics. I am, however, absolutely confident that he is nowhere near as duplicitous as Hillary Clinton, and that an Obama administration will be nowhere near as deleterious as a Clinton administration. At least for today, “straight lesser-evilism” was good enough for me.
The International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) (my former client, I’m very proud to say) will stage a May Day shutdown of all U.S. west coast ports to protest the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Various other labor organizations will join in their own demonstrations of solidarity.
This year on May Day, I remember especially the people of Czechoslovakia who, forty years ago, stood up for liberty and the vision of a humane socialism.
La Internacional Anarquista – recording from the Spanish Civil War
The Red Flag — sung to the original tune (”The White Cockade”)
(This one isn’t working properly. Recording available here.)
Bandiera rossa — performed by the Slovenian punk band Pankrti
El Pueblo Unido Jamás Será Vencido — recording from Chile, 1970
I voted for Barack Obama in the North Carolina primary today. Not because I have been swept away by Obamania. To the contrary, I’m not at all convinced of Obama’s virtues.
