Seriously, Twinkie Boyz? Who goes bankrupt selling whipped lard to Americans? My theory is, they didn’t actually go bankrupt so much as they mass produced all the world will need to consume for the next seventy years, so they closed shop to save money while sales continue. I’m pretty sure they’re still selling the ones they made back in 1974. Preservatives are a marvel.
But bankrupt? I don’t buy it. Not when you’re selling animal fat tubes two to a pack.
Have you ever tried one wrapped in bacon? It is to die for. Actually, I think that’s what happened to Jimmy Hoffa. Bacon/Twinkie induced heart explosion. There wasn’t enough left of him to identify.
Well, if this turns out to ACTUALLY be the end, then Rest In Peace, Twinkies. The coming zombie apocalypse will not be the same without you.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Peace to You
Reposted from 2009.
-----------
A ship’s compass, a windrose, identifies the source of directions as solar sky paths at four key dates: Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Fall Equinox and Winter Solstice. The windrose’s shape is echoed in sundials, stone medicine wheels, ceremonial containers woven from intent and Navajo wedding baskets woven from sumac. People all over the world have captured this pattern in many ways for many reasons.
Stones, stars, the directions, weavings, time – these speak to us out of the past. If you listen the words can be intuited; an alive spiritual communication.
How many times has the wheel turned – the sun aligning with the markings on the windrose and ceremonial containers? When will it end? What gateway experiences will happen along the way? How many times have people gathered for community, warmth and comfort on the longest night of the year? How often are they kept apart?
Blessings to you and yours. May your next trip around the sun be fruitful, enjoyable and peaceful.
-----------
A ship’s compass, a windrose, identifies the source of directions as solar sky paths at four key dates: Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Fall Equinox and Winter Solstice. The windrose’s shape is echoed in sundials, stone medicine wheels, ceremonial containers woven from intent and Navajo wedding baskets woven from sumac. People all over the world have captured this pattern in many ways for many reasons.
Stones, stars, the directions, weavings, time – these speak to us out of the past. If you listen the words can be intuited; an alive spiritual communication.
How many times has the wheel turned – the sun aligning with the markings on the windrose and ceremonial containers? When will it end? What gateway experiences will happen along the way? How many times have people gathered for community, warmth and comfort on the longest night of the year? How often are they kept apart?
Blessings to you and yours. May your next trip around the sun be fruitful, enjoyable and peaceful.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Manning the Door
I love holding the bowl on Halloween almost as much as I used to love going from door to door in the night. My high school son decorated with his usual panache using bloody body parts, skulls, snakes, life-like baby dolls, severed heads, giant spiders, tomb stones, strobe lights and a fog machine. I don’t mind leaving that to him. But let me see all the costumes on the wee, and not so wee as they cavort in darkness laughing and running up and down the street calling out; letting the clan know which house has the best loot.
First, I don’t hand out candy. I hold the bowl out and let them choose. So what if some of them fill their grubby paws and pull back 3 or 5 pieces? I won’t be there for the sugar induced meltdown. I just get to see the glee in their eyes as they score the big haul.
Some kids get a bit nervous around the decorations. They can be intimidating. First you’re blinded by fog and strobes. Then, a skull flashes at you from the rockery… and is that a severed hand over by that snake? Where’s the candy? Up those dark steps to the distant door? Only the brave make it that far.
Not to worry. I bring the bowl down for the faint of heart. One little mass murderer (Jason I believe) declined the journey, but he’ll be back next year and try again. One of my favorites was when two brothers came. The young one, dressed like a pirate stomped boldly up and raked in the booty. “My brother’s coming,” he told me. I looked, but the brother was not moving. He stood right next to Mom way down by the street staring up at his young sibling (the meeker one was a ninja). No trouble. I came out to deliver the bowl, following the pirate. “Joey!” yelled the ninja. “There’s a guy! Right BEHIND YOU!” I smiled and held out the bowl as I drew close. He looked up at me and smiled, seeing I was not going to chainsaw anyone. “Dude!” He said in relief as he picked a few pieces from the bowl.
Pirates: 1 Ninjas: 0, if you’re scoring at home.
We moved about 6 bags of cheap American confection in under 3 hours.
First, I don’t hand out candy. I hold the bowl out and let them choose. So what if some of them fill their grubby paws and pull back 3 or 5 pieces? I won’t be there for the sugar induced meltdown. I just get to see the glee in their eyes as they score the big haul.
Some kids get a bit nervous around the decorations. They can be intimidating. First you’re blinded by fog and strobes. Then, a skull flashes at you from the rockery… and is that a severed hand over by that snake? Where’s the candy? Up those dark steps to the distant door? Only the brave make it that far.
Not to worry. I bring the bowl down for the faint of heart. One little mass murderer (Jason I believe) declined the journey, but he’ll be back next year and try again. One of my favorites was when two brothers came. The young one, dressed like a pirate stomped boldly up and raked in the booty. “My brother’s coming,” he told me. I looked, but the brother was not moving. He stood right next to Mom way down by the street staring up at his young sibling (the meeker one was a ninja). No trouble. I came out to deliver the bowl, following the pirate. “Joey!” yelled the ninja. “There’s a guy! Right BEHIND YOU!” I smiled and held out the bowl as I drew close. He looked up at me and smiled, seeing I was not going to chainsaw anyone. “Dude!” He said in relief as he picked a few pieces from the bowl.
Pirates: 1 Ninjas: 0, if you’re scoring at home.
We moved about 6 bags of cheap American confection in under 3 hours.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980
This from one of the most successful musicians of our time. His view, given the chance to slow down and not be the top dog anymore must have been... what? Interesting? Amusing? Enlightening? And, in simply observing all of this, he writes another beautiful song.
==============================================
People say I'm crazy doing what I'm doing
Well they give me all kinds of warnings to save me from ruin
When I say that I'm o.k. well they look at me kind of strange
Surely you're not happy now you no longer play the game
People say I'm lazy dreaming my life away
Well they give me all kinds of advice designed to enlighten me
When I tell them that I'm doing fine watching shadows on the wall
Don't you miss the big time boy you're no longer on the ball
I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go
Ah, people asking questions lost in confusion
Well I tell them there's no problem, only solutions
Well they shake their heads and they look at me as if I've lost my mind
I tell them there's no hurry
I'm just sitting here doing time
I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go
I just had to let it go
I just had to let it go
==============================================
RIP
His spirit is missed in this world. His time was short, but had he used it more frantically it would not have been his spirit.
==============================================
People say I'm crazy doing what I'm doing
Well they give me all kinds of warnings to save me from ruin
When I say that I'm o.k. well they look at me kind of strange
Surely you're not happy now you no longer play the game
People say I'm lazy dreaming my life away
Well they give me all kinds of advice designed to enlighten me
When I tell them that I'm doing fine watching shadows on the wall
Don't you miss the big time boy you're no longer on the ball
I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go
Ah, people asking questions lost in confusion
Well I tell them there's no problem, only solutions
Well they shake their heads and they look at me as if I've lost my mind
I tell them there's no hurry
I'm just sitting here doing time
I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go
I just had to let it go
I just had to let it go
==============================================
RIP
His spirit is missed in this world. His time was short, but had he used it more frantically it would not have been his spirit.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
My Daughter Caught me Reading
My girl is in seventh grade. A person’s mind turns a corner during that year, as it does during many years. In this year she is observing and putting together judgments in new, somehow more ethereal ways. Recently she sat down next to me on the sofa and struck up a conversation.
Daughter: What’s that you’re reading Daddy?
Daddy: Bloodborn. (Looks at cover.) By Karen Kincy.
Daughter: Is it good?
Daddy: Yeah. This is the second book, after Other.
Daughter: What’s it about?
Daddy: A teenage guy is turned into a werewolf in a world where all sorts of other types of beings exist – vampires, fairies, trolls…
Daughter: Is it funny?
Daddy: At times, but not like the Disk World series. He’s stuck in a torn love situation, see and…
Daughter: (Nodding.) You liked those ones about the vampire girl in high school too, right?
Daddy: The series by Melissa Francis? Bite Me? Love Sucks? Those had more comedy to them, yeah. I like funny.
Daughter: And Juliet Immortal? You just finished that one.
Daddy: Less funny but great writing. Stacey Jay also wrote that great series about a zombie settling cheerleader. That had some chuckles.
Daughter: The Megan Berry series you showed me.
Daddy: Yeah. (Waits for more questions… begins to read again.)
Daughter: You’re starting to remind me of a teenage girl, Daddy.
Daddy: (Thinks for a moment.) It’s the hips, right? I’ve started working out again and I’ll try to cut back on the ice cr…
Daughter: The books, Daddy. They’re what you used to call “paranormal bodice rippers.”
Daddy: (Glowering.) Don’t you have homework?
Nosy kid.I notice she keeps reading these things right after I do.
Nosy kid.I notice she keeps reading these things right after I do.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Happy Labor Day!
This Labor Day, celebrate and raise a glass to those who died so that we can work with dignity and safety. They established the strong middle class we have enjoyed up to now.
July 1835: Children employed in the silk mills in Paterson, New Jersey go on strike for the 11-hour day, 6 days a week. Children, mind you.
July 1851: Two railroad strikers are shot dead and others injured by the state militia in Portage, New York.
January 1874: The original Tompkins Square Riot. As unemployed workers demonstrated in New York City's Tompkins Square Park, a detachment of mounted police charged into the crowd, beating men, women and children indiscriminately with billy clubs and leaving hundreds of casualties in their wake. Commented Abram Duryee, the Commissioner of Police: "It was the most glorious sight I ever saw..."
1885: Ten coal-mining activists ("Molly Maguires") were hanged in Pennsylvania.
May 1886: Bay View Tragedy -- About 2,000 Polish workers walked off their jobs and gathered at St. Stanislaus Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, angrily denouncing the ten hour workday. The protesters marched through the city, calling on other workers to join them. All but one factory was closed down as sixteen thousand protesters gathered at Rolling Mills. Wisconsin Governor Jeremiah Rusk called the state militia. The militia camped out at the mill while workers slept in nearby fields. On the morning of May 5th, as protesters chanted for the eight-hour workday, General Treaumer ordered his men to shoot into the crowd, some of whom were carrying sticks, bricks, and scythes, leaving seven dead at the scene, including a child. The Milwaukee Journal reported that eight more would die within twenty-four hours, adding that Governor Rusk was to be commended for his quick action in the matter.
November 1887: In the Thibodaux massacre in Thidodaux, Louisiana a local militia, aided by bands of "prominent citizens," shot at least 35 unarmed black sugar workers striking to gain a dollar-per-day wage, and lynched two strike leaders.
1890: Labor Leader Eugene V. Debs founded the American Railway Union (ARU) as an all craft organization. The ARU, however, was destroyed a few years later by company management, with government collusion and the use of federal troops during the Pullman Strike in 1894.
February 1894: In Cripple Creek, Colorado, miners went on strike when mine owners announced an increase from eight to ten hours per day, with no increase in wages. This strike marked perhaps the only time in American history that a state militia was called out to protect miners from sheriff's deputies.
September 1896: The state militia was sent to Leadville, Colorado to break a miner's strike.
September 1897: Lattimer Massacre -- 19 unarmed striking coal miners and mine workers were killed and 36 wounded by a posse organized by the Luzerne County sheriff for refusing to disperse near Hazleton, Pennsylvania. The strikers, most of whom were shot in the back, were originally brought in as strike-breakers, but later organized themselves.
November 1903: Colorado Labor Wars -- Troops were dispatched to Cripple Creek, Colorado to defeat a strike by the Western Federation of Miners, with the specific purpose of driving the union out of the district. The strike had begun in the ore mills earlier in 1903, and then spread to the mines.
July 1903: Labor organizer Mary Harris "Mother" Jones leads child workers in demanding a 55 hour work week.
June 1904: A battle between the Colorado Militia and striking miners at Dunnville ended with six union members dead and 15 taken prisoner. Seventy-nine of the strikers were deported to Kansas two days later.
November 1909: The New York shirtwaist strike of 1909 (Uprising of the 20,000). Female garment workers went on strike in New York; many were arrested. A judge told those arrested: "You are on strike against God." (Seriously? A garment company is God?)
March 1911: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire -- The Triangle Shirtwaist Company, occupying the top three floors of a ten-story building in New York City, was consumed by fire. One hundred and forty-six people, mostly women and young girls working in sweatshop conditions, died.
January–March 1912: Lawrence textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts, often known as the "Bread and Roses" strike. Dozens of different immigrant communities united under the leadership of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in a largely successful strike led to a large extent by women. The strike is credited with inventing the moving picket line, a tactic devised to keep strikers from being arrested for loitering. It also adopted a tactic used before in Europe, but never in the United States, of sending children to sympathizers in other cities when they could not be cared for by strike funds. On 24 February, women attempting to put their children on a train out of town were beaten by police, shocking the nation
April 1912: The National Guard was called out against striking West Virginia coal miners.
June 1913: Police shot three maritime workers (one of whom was killed) who were striking against the United Fruit Company in New Orleans.
April 1914: The "Ludlow Massacre." In an attempt to persuade strikers at Colorado's Ludlow Mine Field to return to work, company "guards," engaged by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and other mine operators and sworn into the State Militia just for the occasion, attacked a union tent camp with machine guns, then set it afire. Five men, two women and 12 children died as a result.
January 1915: World famous labor leader Joe Hill was arrested in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was convicted on trumped up murder charges, and was executed 21 months later despite worldwide protests and two attempts to intervene by President Woodrow Wilson. In a letter to Bill Haywood shortly before his death he penned the famous words, "Don't mourn - organize!" On this same day, twenty rioting strikers were shot by factory guards at Roosevelt, New Jersey.
August 1916: Strikebreakers hired by the Everett Mills owner Neil Jamison attacked and beat picketing strikers in Everett, Washington. Local police watched and refused to intervene, claiming that the waterfront where the incident took place was Federal land and therefore outside their jurisdiction. (When the picketers retaliated against the strikebreakers that evening, the local police intervened, claiming that they had crossed the line of jurisdiction.) Three days later, twenty-two union men attempted to speak out at a local crossroads, but each was arrested; arrests and beatings of strikebreakers became common throughout the following months, and on 30 October vigilantes forced IWW speakers to run the gauntlet, subjecting them to whipping, tripping kicking, and impalement against a spiked cattle guard at the end of the gauntlet. In response, the IWW called for a meeting on 5 November. When the union men arrived, they were fired on; seven people were killed, 50 were wounded, and an indeterminate number woundup missing.
5 November 1916: The Everett Massacre (also known as Bloody Sunday) was an armed confrontation between local authorities and members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) union, commonly called "Wobblies", which took place in Everett, Washington on Sunday, November 5, 1916. The tragic event marked a time of rising tensions in Pacific Northwest labor history.
July 1917: The Bisbee Deportation: After seizing the local Western Union telegraph office in order to cut off outside communication, several thousand armed vigilantes forced 1,185 men in Bisbee, Arizona into manure-laden boxcars and "deported" them to the New Mexico desert. The action was precipitated by a strike when workers' demands (including improvements to safety and working conditions at the local copper mines, an end to discrimination against labor organizations and unequal treatment of foreign and minority workers, and the institution of a fair wage system) went unmet. The "deportation" was organized by Sheriff Harry Wheeler. The incident was investigated months later by a Federal Mediation Commission set up by President Woodrow Wilson; the Commission found that no federal law applied, and referred the case to the State of Arizona, which failed to take any action, citing patriotism and support for the war as justification for the vigilantes' action.
September 1917: Federal agents raid the IWW headquarters in 48 cities.
June 1918: A Federal child labor law, enacted two years earlier, was declared unconstitutional. A new law was enacted 24 February 1919, but this one too was declared unconstitutional (on 2 June 1924).
August 1919: United Mine Worker organizer Fannie Sellins was gunned down by company guards in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania.
November 191: Centralia Massacre -- IWW organizer Wesley Everest was lynched after a Centralia, Washington IWW hall was attacked by Legionnaires.
May 1931: Gun-toting "vigilantes" attack striking miners in Harlan County, Kentucky.
March 1932: Police kill striking workers at Ford's Dearborn, Michigan plant.
October 1933: 18,000 cotton workers went on strike in Pixley, California. Four were killed before a pay-hike was finally won.
May 1934: Police attacked and fired upon striking Teamster truck drivers in Minneapolis who were demanding recognition of their union, wage increases, and shorter working hours. As violence escalated, Governor Olson went so far as to declare martial law in Minneapolis, deploying 4,000 National Guardsmen. The strike ended on August 21 when company owners finally accepted union demands.
September 1934: A strike in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, part of a national movement to obtain a minimum wage for textile workers, resulted in the deaths of three workers. Over 420,000 workers ultimately went on strike.
May 1937: Police kill 10 and wounded 30 during the "Memorial Day Massacre" at the Republic Steel plant in Chicago.
June 1938: The Wages and Hours (later Fair Labor Standards) Act is passed, banning child labor and setting the 40-hour work week. The Act went into effect in October 1940, and was upheld in the Supreme Court on 3 February 1941.
December 1941: The AFL pledges that there will be no strikes in defense-related industry plants for the duration of the war.
August 1981: Federal air traffic controllers began a nationwide strike after their union rejected the government's final offer for a new contract. Most of the 13,000 striking controllers defied the back-to-work order, and were dismissed by President Reagan on 5 August. Reagan ordered them to leave.
July 1835: Children employed in the silk mills in Paterson, New Jersey go on strike for the 11-hour day, 6 days a week. Children, mind you.
July 1851: Two railroad strikers are shot dead and others injured by the state militia in Portage, New York.
January 1874: The original Tompkins Square Riot. As unemployed workers demonstrated in New York City's Tompkins Square Park, a detachment of mounted police charged into the crowd, beating men, women and children indiscriminately with billy clubs and leaving hundreds of casualties in their wake. Commented Abram Duryee, the Commissioner of Police: "It was the most glorious sight I ever saw..."
1885: Ten coal-mining activists ("Molly Maguires") were hanged in Pennsylvania.
May 1886: Bay View Tragedy -- About 2,000 Polish workers walked off their jobs and gathered at St. Stanislaus Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, angrily denouncing the ten hour workday. The protesters marched through the city, calling on other workers to join them. All but one factory was closed down as sixteen thousand protesters gathered at Rolling Mills. Wisconsin Governor Jeremiah Rusk called the state militia. The militia camped out at the mill while workers slept in nearby fields. On the morning of May 5th, as protesters chanted for the eight-hour workday, General Treaumer ordered his men to shoot into the crowd, some of whom were carrying sticks, bricks, and scythes, leaving seven dead at the scene, including a child. The Milwaukee Journal reported that eight more would die within twenty-four hours, adding that Governor Rusk was to be commended for his quick action in the matter.
November 1887: In the Thibodaux massacre in Thidodaux, Louisiana a local militia, aided by bands of "prominent citizens," shot at least 35 unarmed black sugar workers striking to gain a dollar-per-day wage, and lynched two strike leaders.
1890: Labor Leader Eugene V. Debs founded the American Railway Union (ARU) as an all craft organization. The ARU, however, was destroyed a few years later by company management, with government collusion and the use of federal troops during the Pullman Strike in 1894.
February 1894: In Cripple Creek, Colorado, miners went on strike when mine owners announced an increase from eight to ten hours per day, with no increase in wages. This strike marked perhaps the only time in American history that a state militia was called out to protect miners from sheriff's deputies.
September 1896: The state militia was sent to Leadville, Colorado to break a miner's strike.
September 1897: Lattimer Massacre -- 19 unarmed striking coal miners and mine workers were killed and 36 wounded by a posse organized by the Luzerne County sheriff for refusing to disperse near Hazleton, Pennsylvania. The strikers, most of whom were shot in the back, were originally brought in as strike-breakers, but later organized themselves.
November 1903: Colorado Labor Wars -- Troops were dispatched to Cripple Creek, Colorado to defeat a strike by the Western Federation of Miners, with the specific purpose of driving the union out of the district. The strike had begun in the ore mills earlier in 1903, and then spread to the mines.
July 1903: Labor organizer Mary Harris "Mother" Jones leads child workers in demanding a 55 hour work week.
June 1904: A battle between the Colorado Militia and striking miners at Dunnville ended with six union members dead and 15 taken prisoner. Seventy-nine of the strikers were deported to Kansas two days later.
November 1909: The New York shirtwaist strike of 1909 (Uprising of the 20,000). Female garment workers went on strike in New York; many were arrested. A judge told those arrested: "You are on strike against God." (Seriously? A garment company is God?)
March 1911: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire -- The Triangle Shirtwaist Company, occupying the top three floors of a ten-story building in New York City, was consumed by fire. One hundred and forty-six people, mostly women and young girls working in sweatshop conditions, died.
January–March 1912: Lawrence textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts, often known as the "Bread and Roses" strike. Dozens of different immigrant communities united under the leadership of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in a largely successful strike led to a large extent by women. The strike is credited with inventing the moving picket line, a tactic devised to keep strikers from being arrested for loitering. It also adopted a tactic used before in Europe, but never in the United States, of sending children to sympathizers in other cities when they could not be cared for by strike funds. On 24 February, women attempting to put their children on a train out of town were beaten by police, shocking the nation
April 1912: The National Guard was called out against striking West Virginia coal miners.
June 1913: Police shot three maritime workers (one of whom was killed) who were striking against the United Fruit Company in New Orleans.
April 1914: The "Ludlow Massacre." In an attempt to persuade strikers at Colorado's Ludlow Mine Field to return to work, company "guards," engaged by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and other mine operators and sworn into the State Militia just for the occasion, attacked a union tent camp with machine guns, then set it afire. Five men, two women and 12 children died as a result.
January 1915: World famous labor leader Joe Hill was arrested in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was convicted on trumped up murder charges, and was executed 21 months later despite worldwide protests and two attempts to intervene by President Woodrow Wilson. In a letter to Bill Haywood shortly before his death he penned the famous words, "Don't mourn - organize!" On this same day, twenty rioting strikers were shot by factory guards at Roosevelt, New Jersey.
August 1916: Strikebreakers hired by the Everett Mills owner Neil Jamison attacked and beat picketing strikers in Everett, Washington. Local police watched and refused to intervene, claiming that the waterfront where the incident took place was Federal land and therefore outside their jurisdiction. (When the picketers retaliated against the strikebreakers that evening, the local police intervened, claiming that they had crossed the line of jurisdiction.) Three days later, twenty-two union men attempted to speak out at a local crossroads, but each was arrested; arrests and beatings of strikebreakers became common throughout the following months, and on 30 October vigilantes forced IWW speakers to run the gauntlet, subjecting them to whipping, tripping kicking, and impalement against a spiked cattle guard at the end of the gauntlet. In response, the IWW called for a meeting on 5 November. When the union men arrived, they were fired on; seven people were killed, 50 were wounded, and an indeterminate number woundup missing.
5 November 1916: The Everett Massacre (also known as Bloody Sunday) was an armed confrontation between local authorities and members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) union, commonly called "Wobblies", which took place in Everett, Washington on Sunday, November 5, 1916. The tragic event marked a time of rising tensions in Pacific Northwest labor history.
July 1917: The Bisbee Deportation: After seizing the local Western Union telegraph office in order to cut off outside communication, several thousand armed vigilantes forced 1,185 men in Bisbee, Arizona into manure-laden boxcars and "deported" them to the New Mexico desert. The action was precipitated by a strike when workers' demands (including improvements to safety and working conditions at the local copper mines, an end to discrimination against labor organizations and unequal treatment of foreign and minority workers, and the institution of a fair wage system) went unmet. The "deportation" was organized by Sheriff Harry Wheeler. The incident was investigated months later by a Federal Mediation Commission set up by President Woodrow Wilson; the Commission found that no federal law applied, and referred the case to the State of Arizona, which failed to take any action, citing patriotism and support for the war as justification for the vigilantes' action.
September 1917: Federal agents raid the IWW headquarters in 48 cities.
June 1918: A Federal child labor law, enacted two years earlier, was declared unconstitutional. A new law was enacted 24 February 1919, but this one too was declared unconstitutional (on 2 June 1924).
August 1919: United Mine Worker organizer Fannie Sellins was gunned down by company guards in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania.
November 191: Centralia Massacre -- IWW organizer Wesley Everest was lynched after a Centralia, Washington IWW hall was attacked by Legionnaires.
May 1931: Gun-toting "vigilantes" attack striking miners in Harlan County, Kentucky.
March 1932: Police kill striking workers at Ford's Dearborn, Michigan plant.
October 1933: 18,000 cotton workers went on strike in Pixley, California. Four were killed before a pay-hike was finally won.
May 1934: Police attacked and fired upon striking Teamster truck drivers in Minneapolis who were demanding recognition of their union, wage increases, and shorter working hours. As violence escalated, Governor Olson went so far as to declare martial law in Minneapolis, deploying 4,000 National Guardsmen. The strike ended on August 21 when company owners finally accepted union demands.
September 1934: A strike in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, part of a national movement to obtain a minimum wage for textile workers, resulted in the deaths of three workers. Over 420,000 workers ultimately went on strike.
May 1937: Police kill 10 and wounded 30 during the "Memorial Day Massacre" at the Republic Steel plant in Chicago.
June 1938: The Wages and Hours (later Fair Labor Standards) Act is passed, banning child labor and setting the 40-hour work week. The Act went into effect in October 1940, and was upheld in the Supreme Court on 3 February 1941.
December 1941: The AFL pledges that there will be no strikes in defense-related industry plants for the duration of the war.
August 1981: Federal air traffic controllers began a nationwide strike after their union rejected the government's final offer for a new contract. Most of the 13,000 striking controllers defied the back-to-work order, and were dismissed by President Reagan on 5 August. Reagan ordered them to leave.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Open Letter to Anyone Moving to Seattle
Do you own a green Subaru Outback? First of all, congratulations on joining with your people. Your wandering is over. You have found your tribe.
Now.
I would like you to go out and take a good long look at your Subaru. What kind of roof-top carrier do you own? On which side of the car is it most easily accessed? The bike rack: what is the make and model? Scan your bumper. On which side is the tastefully mainstream liberal sticker placed?
Once you receive your Washington plates, memorize them.
Any one of these details may be the one that will help you to differentiate your car from the other 400 green Subaru Outbacks parked at the Whole Foods at any given time.
If the memory load seems like too much, I suggest you sign the side of your car with a two inch paint brush.
Now.
I would like you to go out and take a good long look at your Subaru. What kind of roof-top carrier do you own? On which side of the car is it most easily accessed? The bike rack: what is the make and model? Scan your bumper. On which side is the tastefully mainstream liberal sticker placed?
Once you receive your Washington plates, memorize them.
Any one of these details may be the one that will help you to differentiate your car from the other 400 green Subaru Outbacks parked at the Whole Foods at any given time.
If the memory load seems like too much, I suggest you sign the side of your car with a two inch paint brush.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Akira
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094625/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_%28film%29
I suppose I should say first that this animated movie has made me ponder its substance many hours after viewing it. It is not something to be ignored once it enters your consciousness. However, I started around 11pm on Saturday night and I was sleepy. The film didn’t have what it takes to keep me from shutting it down and going to bed before finishing, but I was strong enough to make me finish it Sunday night.
I know. Mixed review, right?
Maybe it would have kept me riveted if the atomic bomb worried at my being a bit more. Stated briefly, the film explores the idea of humans gaining godlike powers which manifest as nuclear explosions if the host is not properly aligned – inner peace I suppose. (Many of you may have seen it already. For those who haven’t and want a full synopsis, check the links above.) It’s set in post WWIII Tokyo – a punk, dystopian world. Science and the military struggle with their own concerns while humanity struggles to exist. Not being haunted by the Bomb, my psyche wasn’t feeling the tug.
This is not a beautiful Hayao Miyazaki anime with futuristic flying wonders and gentle light sifted through branches. At times the animation is relatively simplistic. Where it shines is when it is at its most disturbing. Blood dripping from mouths… a boy bloating into a muscle and wire monstrosity as big as a soccer field screaming in pain and fear… bridges buckling and flipping, sending protesters, police and religious fanatics alike to violent deaths. These scenes stay with you. No one is spared. The carnage does not care who you are – it consumes like flame.
All that aside, there were times when the physics didn’t line up. The animation of a truck on the road wasn’t convincing. Faces were dead – not lively as a moving face should be. Maybe this was ground breaking in 1988 when it came out, but the bar is higher today. I can care about a goldfish that turns into a little girl if the animation chops are brilliant. Had the animation been more rich, I’m sure Akira could have drawn me in more.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_%28film%29
I suppose I should say first that this animated movie has made me ponder its substance many hours after viewing it. It is not something to be ignored once it enters your consciousness. However, I started around 11pm on Saturday night and I was sleepy. The film didn’t have what it takes to keep me from shutting it down and going to bed before finishing, but I was strong enough to make me finish it Sunday night.
I know. Mixed review, right?
Maybe it would have kept me riveted if the atomic bomb worried at my being a bit more. Stated briefly, the film explores the idea of humans gaining godlike powers which manifest as nuclear explosions if the host is not properly aligned – inner peace I suppose. (Many of you may have seen it already. For those who haven’t and want a full synopsis, check the links above.) It’s set in post WWIII Tokyo – a punk, dystopian world. Science and the military struggle with their own concerns while humanity struggles to exist. Not being haunted by the Bomb, my psyche wasn’t feeling the tug.
This is not a beautiful Hayao Miyazaki anime with futuristic flying wonders and gentle light sifted through branches. At times the animation is relatively simplistic. Where it shines is when it is at its most disturbing. Blood dripping from mouths… a boy bloating into a muscle and wire monstrosity as big as a soccer field screaming in pain and fear… bridges buckling and flipping, sending protesters, police and religious fanatics alike to violent deaths. These scenes stay with you. No one is spared. The carnage does not care who you are – it consumes like flame.
All that aside, there were times when the physics didn’t line up. The animation of a truck on the road wasn’t convincing. Faces were dead – not lively as a moving face should be. Maybe this was ground breaking in 1988 when it came out, but the bar is higher today. I can care about a goldfish that turns into a little girl if the animation chops are brilliant. Had the animation been more rich, I’m sure Akira could have drawn me in more.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Looking on the Bright Side
In my youth I was a contented, emaciated stick able to eat a truckload of spreadable fat flavored goober lumps on sugar-frosted lard crackers (deep fried, naturally) without gaining an ounce. In college I had a 29 inch waist and a 36 inch inseam.
Yesterday was a milestone for me.
There I was, foraging among the racks, looking for slacks. For the first time, my inseam was no longer the higher of the two relevant numbers. And no, my legs haven’t shrunk.
More disturbing than this sobering discovery was my family’s extreme lack of surprise. After making a variety of unnecessary and colorful observations my wife asked, “So what are you going to do about it?”
The answer was obvious, of course. Start wearing heels. I mean, if I’m going to be sporting a round booty, I might as well heft it up and show it off. Then I can buy pants with a longer inseam without tripping over the cuff.
The only danger is walking down the hills in Seattle without breaking into a headlong run.
Yesterday was a milestone for me.
There I was, foraging among the racks, looking for slacks. For the first time, my inseam was no longer the higher of the two relevant numbers. And no, my legs haven’t shrunk.
More disturbing than this sobering discovery was my family’s extreme lack of surprise. After making a variety of unnecessary and colorful observations my wife asked, “So what are you going to do about it?”
The answer was obvious, of course. Start wearing heels. I mean, if I’m going to be sporting a round booty, I might as well heft it up and show it off. Then I can buy pants with a longer inseam without tripping over the cuff.
The only danger is walking down the hills in Seattle without breaking into a headlong run.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Poo Todd
Anyone who has read THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO knows where I’m coming from with that title. One of the things I like about getting involved in a book is how it takes over my head. I get up in the morning and become Todd’s talking dog, Manchee. I’m not finished reading this one, so I’m still immersed. I’m swimming in New World waters as I wander through my day.
Previously, I read several books in a row that were written in present tense. It seemed to be a trend. And for the books I was reading, it worked. It also got under my skin. The next think I knew, I saved off a copy of my current ms and rewrote the entire thing in present tense. As I drew near the final chapter a dawning realization began to warm my brow. Rays of awareness illuminated me. I stopped in mid stride and spoke into my writing space. “This sucks!”
Damn.
I had even made improvements to the text beyond changing tense. I couldn’t go back to the previous version without losing a great deal.
Now, I have changed it back to past tense and I’m in love again. That was a close call.
I’ve got to learn to filter better. I mean, as I read THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO, it’s not like I want to start spelling words like creachers or selecshun.
“Spell check, Todd.”
“I know, Manchee. I know.”
Previously, I read several books in a row that were written in present tense. It seemed to be a trend. And for the books I was reading, it worked. It also got under my skin. The next think I knew, I saved off a copy of my current ms and rewrote the entire thing in present tense. As I drew near the final chapter a dawning realization began to warm my brow. Rays of awareness illuminated me. I stopped in mid stride and spoke into my writing space. “This sucks!”
Damn.
I had even made improvements to the text beyond changing tense. I couldn’t go back to the previous version without losing a great deal.
Now, I have changed it back to past tense and I’m in love again. That was a close call.
I’ve got to learn to filter better. I mean, as I read THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO, it’s not like I want to start spelling words like creachers or selecshun.
“Spell check, Todd.”
“I know, Manchee. I know.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)