Grandpa was a union man

That's my maternal grandfather. His name was William Wells. I just found out he worked to bring the union to Ford Motor Company plants in Detroit in the 1930's. I had no idea he did that. I could not be prouder to his blood flowing in my body, to share his genes.

Growing up I was scared of him. He was a cranky old man by the time I hit the scene. He tolerated me and I secretly loved being around him even though he frightened me a little. If he was around today I'd thank him profusely for helping unionize autoworkers. But he'd probably tell me to sit down and be quiet while he was trying to enjoy his TV time. He wasn't big on expressing emotion but I'd give him a hug anyway.

Today Wisconsin, tomorrow the whole country!

Hello everyone, I'm Crossing Guard Pete Hansen and I'm here to tell you why those Commie teachers unions in Wisconsin need to be busted before their lies and filth are spread to the other states. There are many businesses and corporations here in Wisconsin that haven't gotten a tax break yet but if we stop those fat cat teachers from getting a raise through their union then we can give that money to the people who really deserve it, the captains of industry and finance. From my vantage point in the school crossing that I patrol every day I see those fat cat teachers drive up in their fancy used cars that are filled with boxes of macaroni and cheese, the kind with the cheese in the pouch, not the kind with the powdered cheese, which is the kind I have to buy. I see them laughing and pointing at me as they walk by in their fancy Dan K Mart fashions. I can't afford to buy clothes at K Mart or Wal Mart or the 7-11. I have to make due with what I can scavenge out of the dumpsters near the zoo. There ain't no crossing guards union to protect me, so there shouldn't be no teachers union to protect them leeches who only work 9 months of the year.

Also, I heard they been teaching kids all about the homosexual lifestyle and taking them to gay re-education camps out side of Milwaukee like this one:
I'm not in favor of that at all. I don't want no kids of mine getting mixed up with the Roman Catholic priests and evangelical ministers who run them camps. No sirree, no way.

I hear them teachers also are teaching black and brown kids and I'm against that. Those colored kids need to be working, not getting schooled. Next thing you know them educated blacks will want to vote and shit and that can only be bad news for the rest of us parents of skinheads.
And lastly, I know they're teaching evolution and animal husbandry in schools today so if we break the unions then they'll have to teach girls home ec and stuff like that. And the boys will learn trades like cheese mining, cheese maintenance, and how to cut the cheese. We don't need kids learning about how we evolved from dino-monkeys from Uranus, and anyways all that stuff contradicts what it says in my Bible.

If we bust the unions in Wisconsin then we can move on to Illinois, Iowa, and the other 48 states!

Attention local to me peeps!

We're going to be holding a pro teacher/pro union/pro working people demonstration this Saturday from noon to 2:00 PM. It will be held on the public sidewalk in front of First Tennessee bank at 1919 North Roan Street. Please bring pro teacher, pro union, pro labor, pro working people signs and let's show our friends and neighbors in east Tennessee that we support public employees and working people.

A word of warning though, do not park in the First Tennessee parking lot or they might call the cops to have you towed. Also do not walk or set anything on First Tennessee property or they will call the cops. Park in the huge parking lot next to First Tennessee and please confine the demonstration to the public sidewalk. We want a big turnout for this non violent protest that is in support of working people.

Bring your friends, neighbors, and family, let's show the world not all of us in east Tennessee are right wing teabaggers!

God hates labor unions

"Don't blame us," said the guilty men

When I first heard about this article in the Washington Post the other day, I honestly thought it was a joke. I really thought that someone from The Onion had snuck into the Post offices and wrote that article as a gag, a sick joke. But to my surprise and to my chagrin, it wasn't a joke, the CEO's of some of America's biggest corporations were blaming American workers for the lack of an economic recovery.

According to the article, "They (the CEO's) blame their profound caution on their view that U.S. consumers are destined to disappoint for many years. As a result, they say, the economy is unlikely to see the kind of almost unbroken prosperity of the quarter-century that preceded the financial crisis."

That's a pretty funny statement isn't it? They blame us for disappointing them. For not buying enough, for not making them enough profit, for not being good little consumers who spend all our money on their shit and services.

Hey, CEO's, here's a news flash for you: We can't buy the products you make or use the services you sell if we don't have any money. See guys, you cut wages, benefits, and jobs to make your bottom line look good to Wall Street. And as a result of all that your short term profits rose and your stock price went up but after you cut all the wages, benefits, and jobs, nobody had any money left to buy anything because they had no discretionary income left. The money they used to spend on buying the latest greatest version of microwaves, cars, or whatever now goes to paying the light bill, the mortgage, and it buys groceries and clothes.

In your mad rush to maximize shareholder value you minimized your employees. Instead of taking care of the people who built your companies and who paid your salaries, you shafted them by moving their jobs China. You downsized and laid off the very people you want to buy your products. If people have no money, no jobs, no hope because American business has failed them, how do you expect them to buy your products? If people can't make ends meet on what little you pay them now, how can they be expected to buy more so that your company can make more money?

Your economic model makes no sense. You can't ship jobs to China and expect the Americans you put on the unemployment line to buy what the Chinese now make. You can't expect people who have nothing to keep buying your products. You can't keep taking with both hands and then expect those you took everything from to bail you out.

So, the fact that we have no economic recovery in this country isn't our fault, we've done everything you've asked. We worked hard, we paid our taxes, we built your shit, we bought your shit, we took your shit, and then you shit on us. So dear CEO's, the fault lies with you and your insane expectations and your nonsensical Milton Friedman-esque economic theories. We here outside of your cloistered boardrooms did what we were supposed to do, and we continue to do it, it's you who changed the rules and rigged the game. It's you who lied and who disappoint. It's you who are causing economic stagnation. We swallowed your lies for years, especially the lie that if you work hard enough then great things will happen. The smart ones among us know that millions of us work hard every day and all they get for it is a handful of shit courtesy of your big heartless soulless corporate culture that prizes shareholder profits over everything.

I can't wait for this economic house of cards to collapse and for your corporations to fall. Maybe out of their ashes will rise a fairer system that puts people before profits and has safeguards against big corporate bullies. You know, kind of like the stuff the late great FDR enacted in the aftermath of the Great Depression. Mr. and Mrs. CEO, the time of reckoning will soon be at hand and it's not going to be pretty or fun for any of you.

Hey comrades!

HappyMay Day!

Most of you have been good workers and comrades this past year so here's your reward:

Some Crunky!