Vanessa, could you give us a thrilling insight into your impending smash hit blockbuster, 'Raging For Justice, Yearning For Love'?
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Piss off, buggerlugs.
Woah. Went over to Facebook and the activist from Lawrence invited me to an event he is hosting...a follow up event on education...featuring...Ms. Berard!
Serendipity.
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In other news, one of my comrades from Worcester, Anarchist Nick, put out an EP on bandcamp. I haven't listened to it yet, but I will link it all the same:
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UK comedian Josie Long has been tweeting Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders fanfiction.
Just saying.
It's funny you should mention that, because, after Ex Lady Comrade Longears posted something about a dream she had about Jeremy on social media, Vanessa thought it might be amusing to write one of her little stories and put it up on the same, thus invoking the Wrath of ELCL, which descended on me!
The story was quickly deleted, and followed up by a series of very cross messages to yours truly. Hardly fair, but that's life.
I am sorry to hear about Ex Lady Comrade, Limey.
[Sighs]
Women.
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But I did have an amusing conversation with a union brother.
Kemal is a Bosnian who's been in the United States since the '90s. I was his steward a couple of years ago on another shift. He used to be a rigger in a different local, and then he started his own hardwood floor installation business and got a job at UPS part-time to keep his benefits and get pension accrual.
Anyways, Surly Italian Teamster, who's voting for Trump, was ragging on Muslims in the office when it occured to me there was a good chance that Kemal was a Muslim. So I started asking him about it, and he told me that he was, in fact, ethnically, or whatever, a Muslim, but that "Under Communism there was no religion" and he didn't practice or believe.
He talked some more about life in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the conversation turned to me asking him what he thought of Bernie Sanders.
"Too socialist," Kemal said as he frowned and shook his head no. He then launched into a panegyric about the values of hard work and personal initiative, etc., etc., I'm sure you've heard it before.
He then went on to say that he wasn't hard-hearted*; he liked "non-crazy" Republicans like John Kasich, but Bernie Sanders wanted "to give too much away for free". In his opinion, the only things that should be free are: education, health care, and day care. "Day care?" I asked. "Yes, you know, for the kids, so the parents can go to work."
Free education, free health care, and free 24-hour day care. I'm pretty sure Bernie's only calling for two of those.
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*And it's true. A further irony is that Kemal keeps giving money to Lazy, Hardly-Ever-Comes-To-Work, Probably-A-Welfare-Cheater-But-I-Try-Not-To-Judge Teamster when she gets behind on her bills, even though she hardly ever comes to work and has two grown sons who don't have jobs.
How Brits and French people protest very differently
Although, it could just as easily be Yanks.
I have no idea what we're talking about, but Sweden. Sweden rocks.
I'm sure you've heard it before.
Earlier today in fact. We are working for a guy who came from failing Poland in the '80's with a suitcase and a couple hundred bucks, and is now a millionaire. We had a long talk about a lot of things, especially the welfare programs of the Great Society Era. Let's just say, he was not a fan. Interesting perspective though.
Union Sisters of La Principessa's in the News Which I Found on Ms. Berard's Facebook Page
Some NYC Teachers Defy Schools Chancellor to Critique Common Core, Encourage Opt-Out
I went to Lauren Cohen's birthday party.
How did he manage that?I'm sure you've heard it before.Earlier today in fact. We are working for a guy who came from failing Poland in the '80's with a suitcase and a couple hundred bucks, and is now a millionaire.
Hard work and dedication. Similarly, the owner of HobbyLobby only started with about $600 loan.
Well I'm actually the twin of Comrade, identical. Depending on whom you ask, I am the evil one, but I don't think I am.....OR AM I!!!!
A guy who came from failing Poland in the '80's with a suitcase and a couple hundred bucks, and is now a millionaire.How did he manage that?
Through revolutionary socialism Not Revolutionary Capitalism I presume. I don't really know how he went from rags to riches, but I think he got some sort of business or law degree at a university in Poland, so that probably helped. I was wondering if he got help from his parents (his father was a university professor in Poland) but he was telling us just today that when he came to the US, he had a very hard time spending money, because $30 was like a months wages in Poland at that time (early 1980's I think). It took him a long time before he could spend his money without stressing over how far that money would go in Poland.
He also told us about when he first showed up to NYC, fresh off the boat from Poland. One of the first things he did was go to a big record store some where on St. Marks in Greenwich Village. His mind was blown by the amazing selection of classic rock... Zeppelin, Stones, Rush, etc. He buys a bunch of records he had always wanted and is thrilled! It is only later that he realizes that he just spent almost a third of his total assets on a bunch of records when he should have been thinking the basics of food and lodging. He credits that experience with shaping his thinking about spending his money.
A recurring theme in our conversations about life and such often comes down to being humble enough to admit you don't know things, and be open to learning. This also favors the "Classic" analytical view of life over the "Romantic", emotional outlook. If you went to a fancy school, you might already know this. I learned it when I was reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance cuz I wuz into motorcycles.
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Went to a rally to protest against the recent Taliban bombing in Lahore today, organised by our comrades in the South Asian People's Forum (which is a sort of umbrella group which organises activity amongst progressive people from India/Pakistan/Bangladesh living in the UK). There were speeches from members of the Awami National Party EDIT: Whoops - the Awami Workers Party, a Kashmiri party I can't remember the name of, a Punjabi Trade Unionist, a couple of Labour councillors, a Catholic priest, a woman from the Communist Party of Bangladesh and me. My speech was very short and extremely crap; the others were pretty good (I assume, since some of them were in Urdu). There was only one idiot heckler, who wished to inform a rally consisting largely of Muslims protesting against Islamic terrorism that Islamic terrorism was principally the work of Muslims.
The woman who spoke, seeing my flag, said to me 'Oh, you still exist, then?' (She had been a CPGB member in the early '70s)
My reply was 'I'm pretty certain I still exist', which was the best I could do at short notice.
Seen this? Got opinions? Looks like a party.
Yeah, I have. Some local labor types have mentioned it, and some of the local Bernie Democrats/Greens, although one of the few headliners I recognize is Dolores Huerta, who's a noted Hillary supporter. I was down in Brooklyn when she pulled that stunt in Nevada, I believe it was, and La Principessa's Anarcho-Syndicalist Guatemalan Playwright friend vituperated venomously against her and Cesar Chavez's collaborating with the feds back in the day to deport undocumented workers.
Looks like a typical liberal-Dem gathering, although I wish them success on most of their specific agenda points.
More of La Principessa's Union Sisters In the News
Labor Notes Conference Gathers Over 2,000 ‘Troublemaker’ Workers and Organizers in Chicago
I've gotten drunk with the one in the middle more than a few times. She's an elementary school teacher, sciences, I think, and she has the Chinese characters for "butt f~%&" tattooed on her ankle. Last time I saw her she tried to show me all the dick pics she had been receiving on her phone (maybe I should try that with Ms. Berard?) and then told me about an ex-con she was banging who, for protection, had joined a Nazi prison gang and had a swastika tattooed across his chest. They are both Jewish.
New York teachers are weird.
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Communism:
Showed Let the Fire Burn last night and made $25 for the MOVE 9 (8) which is the least that we've made so far, despite it having almost twice as many attendees as any other film showing this year. Even better, one of the attendees was a dude I almost got into a fight with two Christmases ago.
We have learned that the international fast food workers strike on Thursday is going to be dedicated to Jeffrey Pendleton. On Friday, the Granite State Organizing Project is having a noontime standout in front of the Burger King where he worked and then, later in the afternoon, our rivals in the PSL are having an event in Boston:
And if all that wasn't enough, apparently, Wednesday morning, Verizon workers will probably go out on strike.
Oh yeah, there's also a second Million Student March on Wednesday, too. Look for it at a campus near you!
Love:
Got an e-mail from the young Ugandan woman who staffs for the Granite State Organizing Project who wanted to meet up "one-on-one" for a half-hour/forty-five minutes. When I asked her what she wanted to discuss, she replied "I just want to get to know you better and vice versa." Oh yeah.
And on Thursday, after striking at six in the morning and going down to Boston to demonstrate all day, I have to schlepp back up to Lawrence by seven in the evening to see if I can successfully woo Ms. Berard. I hope I don't fall asleep.
Gaming:
After work tonight I'm gonna stop by a local gaming store to test run some homebrew system. I have no idea what it is. Saturday, hopefully, The Black Goblin will initiate us into the joys of 5e D&D.
I made a human paladin named Aloysius Ambrose d'Abelmarle.
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And, to continue a running theme from a ways back, more swords in the news:
God, I'd hate to have that guy at my table.
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Standing up to Verizon's war on unions
Is there such a thing as a corporation or any privately owned company that doesn't have an ongoing war on unions? They are after all, natural and inevitable enemies.
For the socialists on this thread...
Does Bernie Sanders make any of your cut? If not, did Michael Harrington, or Democratic Socialists in general?
I've never heard of Michael Harrington...
EDIT: {one quick search later} Aha.
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Standing up to Verizon's war on unionsIs there such a thing as a corporation or any privately owned company that doesn't have an ongoing war on unions? They are after all, natural and inevitable enemies.
And yet, during the Cold War, it seemed to occur to them that maybe that was the farthest thing from true...it's so eerie when human social behavior starts resembling Newtonian physics....
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{slaps wooden shoe in palm of hand} Oh, nice means of production you have there. Be a shame if something happened to it...
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In the fifties, the American capitalist establishment was willing to accept a strong, but defanged, labor movement. Partly because less than 15 years ago, mass class war led by avowed commies had broken out and scared the beejeezus out of them. Partly because they were flush with cash from the uptick in profits from the postwar boom that they could afford them. Partly because, as Comrade Jeff points out, they had defanged the commies in them through McCarthyism, etc. Probably other shiznit, too, but I've been drinking.
What else? In answer to Citizen Moonrunner's first question: Prolly not, although the anti-union offensive at UPS, for example, isn't terribly overt. In answer to Citizen Moonrunner's second question: For me, no, Bernie doesn't make the cut. Nor did Michael Harrington, although I found his The Other America a pretty powerful read and indictment of poverty at the height of the American postwar boom. The Democratic Socialists of America are a part of the Democratic Party and, despite the line coming out of Seattle from leadership, I still can't abide the Democratic Party.
Anyway, stopped by the Lowell Verizon lines on my way home. About 200 strong, shutting down all three entrances to the mall which, is, coincidentally, the same mall where the bus is going to pick up the fast food strikers to go to Boston.
Anyway, last night I played Thunder: Classic Role Playing. I was a hawt female fire mage named Zhasha last night. We had to save a lumbertown that were under siege by faceless grey reavers. At one point, I ended up in the boarded up church with some lumberjacks and I engineered a menage a trois with Sven and Olaf, who, later, received bonuses to their attacks due to the morale boost I gave them.
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Anyway, last night I played Thunder: Classic Role Playing. I was a hawt female fire mage named Zhasha last night. We had to save a lumbertown that were under siege by faceless grey reavers. At one point, I ended up in the boarded up church with some lumberjacks and I engineered a menage a trois with Sven and Olaf, who, later, received bonuses to their attacks due to the morale boost I gave them.
Ha-ha.
"Erotic urge...SATISFIED...must now...fulfill...THANATOTIC URGE...maintain...THE BALANCE...!"
Shameless socialist self-promotion
"In Manchester on Thursday, fast-food and other low-wage workers are expected to join a nationwide strike at 6 a.m. to demand a $15-an-hour minimum wage and union rights. A rally is slated for the McDonald’s restaurant on South Willow St.
"'McDonald’s, the world’s second-largest employer and industry leader in the fast-food and service economy, is a symbol of what is wrong with the economy,' said a statement issued by the Service Employees International Union. The union is organizing the Manchester event along with the Granite State Organizing Project and Socialist Alternative."
Tax protests planned by those at both ends of political spectrum
And one from Gawker that seems in the spirit of things:
If You Want to Be Able to Tell Your Boss to Eat Shit, Unionize
Early morning striking music:
[Yawns]
I don't see how I'm going to make it to Ms. Berard Dube's tonight. :(
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New left wing pro-Brexit group formed
Joining campaign groups with the SWP - never a dull moment.
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Fast-food protesters gather in Manchester
Here’s What You Need To Know About Today’s Nationwide Strikes
Photo by former Khmer Rouge enthusiast
Got to Ms. Dube's presentation an hour late. I went in with the Nigerian Princess while Mr. Comrade ordered dinner downstairs. The NP observed her for a while and then whispered, "This isn't good, Doodlebug, she's a La Principessa clone, if La Principessa was taller and a redhead. But she looks great." Later, the NP introduced herself, but Ms. Dube avoided eye contact with me, so I let the moment pass, and then she bolted and escaped. "Why didn't you say anything?!?" the NP chided on the way home. I hemmed and hawed and she said "You're shy, she's shy, this is never going to work. But she has amazing legs."
Surprisingly, since these protests I've had better service from Verizon internet wise.
Then, in one of those rare moments of congruity, me and my long lost spawnmate agree: Strike! Strike! Strike!
The brothers and sisters in Lowell were very friendly even though we only walked their lines for 20 minutes before hopping on the bus and going to Boston.
More of La Principessa's Union Sisters In the News
Labor Notes Conference Gathers Over 2,000 ‘Troublemaker’ Workers and Organizers in Chicago
I've gotten drunk with the one in the middle more than a few times....
New York teachers are weird.
She just posted pix of her running into fellow Labor-for-Berniers on the street in Manhattan outside of the Corrosion of Conformity show.
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Maybe I'm wrong, but it's not surprising that it would go both ways at once - but I'd heard that unions were stronger back then because the capitalists understood it was deal with them or deal with a scarier alternative looming in the background.
Unions were stronger because they had clear support from a public who still had fresh memories of the Gilded Age and how far companies were willing to go in the days before strong union protection, as well as other concentration camp level abuses known as company towns.
Support for unions remained strong up through the late 1970's when several forces started converging into a perfect storm.
1. The consolidation of independent Press into corporate monopolies which steadily either absorbed or drove indpendent media organisations, newspapers, television stations, out of buisness
2. The rise of corporate greed, and the enshrinement of it as a virtue.
3. The transition of news itself from sober fact presentation into entertainment. This pretty much also marked the time when women were first admitted into anchor desks.
4. The eliminatin of civics from public school curricula after the corporate elite saw how well the 60's protestors used the tools it taught them.
5. The rise of the Reagan Presidency and it's promulugation of anti-union themes starting first with public unions but then extending into private ones.
6. The defanging or elimination of labor protections, in particular targeting the collection of union dues in shops.
Unions were historically big supporters of the Democratic party as well as one of the higher contributers, It was sound Republican stategy to target them and they did so with gusto. Combined with right wing ownership of most news media, it was a perfect two prong attack.
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Then, in one of those rare moments of congruity, me and my long lost spawnmate agree: Strike! Strike! Strike!
The brothers and sisters in Lowell were very friendly even though we only walked their lines for 20 minutes before hopping on the bus and going to Boston.
*sigh* Am I the only liberal who abhors hip-hop, and considers it something that shouldn't be endorsed in this fashion, or something?
I literally had a dream where I visited Hell, sold my soul for a bowl of good clam chowder (because you could get barbecue, burgers, steak, and Mexican food down there for a reasonable price in earthly currency, but anything else was *extra*), and having done that was given a choice of torments: 1 hour of hellfire or a short series of 3-hour lectures on hip-hop. I chose hellfire (but then SpongeBob Squarepants suffered it for me for some reason - ever the generous soul, he).
*sigh* Am I the only liberal who abhors hip-hop, and considers it something that shouldn't be endorsed in this fashion, or something?
I wouldn't know, I'm not a liberal.
But hip hop is the shiznit.
*sigh* Am I the only liberal who abhors hip-hop, and considers it something that shouldn't be endorsed in this fashion, or something?
You don't like Peace, Love, Unity, and Having Fun?
More seriously, Hip Hop has a long history of very righteous morality. For example, check out the beliefs of the Zulu Nation.
Like any form of music or entertainment, there is a huge amount of it that is total crap, but I think this is largely because it is produced in a society that places much greater value on money then artistry or morality. Most of what I hear on the radio or see in videos would be better described as a promotional product formatted in the style of Hip Hop then a song made my musicians. Another thing to keep in mind is that much of Hip Hop is a reaction to the very oppressive and violent racism that has existed for generations. It would be unrealistic to think that situations like that would produce happy bubblegum pop.
Disclaimer: I would agree that a 3 hour lecture on just about any form of music would suck, as lectures about any form of art are generally going to suck. A 3 hour Hip Hop party would be great however.
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Hip-hop, bubblegum pop, and country: My 3 most hated categories of music. I get surprised when people act like they're at odds with each other or something.
Maybe I'm just a victim of experience - where I've lived for the past 14 years, the "total crap" is all people listen to. I have ugly memories of a high school art class where they kept bringing in some guy who just kept saying "I've got hos" (which rhymes with "area code," so let's use that as the alternating lyric - genius). I finally tried bringing in "The Phantom of the Opera," and less than halfway through "Think of Me," a guy goes over to the CD player, takes it out, and makes a face at me. Did I ever do that with their crap? Never. Then he starts whining about "it hurt my ears" and how "[his music] is about REAL LIFE, not stoopid Phantoms" (excuse me? How many 'hos' do you have? Looks like none). Anyway, I believe the teacher took the CD player out after that.
So that's what hip-hop means to me: Trashy, pathetic, monofilament-minded wannabe vatos who know nothing about "real life," have no interest in changing the system, and frankly deserve to be screwed by it.
This past Wednesday, we once again attended the Richard Wolff lecture on economics and socialism in NYC. This one was very different because the NYPD had the WHOLE area blocked off for the Bernie rally that was going on nearby in Washington Square Park (the lecture is a half block from the park). Hundreds of cops were preventing people from even getting close to the park, and it took a while to find a gap in the barricades.
The lecture was great, and I'll post a link one it is up.
The next day I had a long conversation with the Capitalist from Poland, and realized that Socialism is WAAAAY too broad a term for a decent discussion of economics.
Here is the thing:
A political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.
So apparently, anything between laissez-faire capitalism and communism is socialism. But I have never heard any thinking person advocate laissez-faire capitalism, and almost every person I have ever spoken to likes an economic system with "common sense" regulation. The conversation also drifted to international trade, and I was confused when The Capitalist decried tariffs and "protectionism", but then went on to explain that it was up to the Government to create a "level playing field", so that US workers could compete evenly with workers in other countries that lacked labor and environmental laws. I was baffled!
It has led me to conclude that those in power have used language to control the debate on economics in order to push a deregulation agenda. We hardly have access to the tools (words) that allow us to have a real discussion on issues like trade, ownership, etc. The positive part is that we now have a "Socialist" who could well be the next president, and these economic issues are now opening to debate and scrutiny for the first time in my lifetime.
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[Shrugs]
I like hip hop, bubblegum pop and country.
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*sigh* Am I the only liberal who abhors hip-hop, and considers it something that shouldn't be endorsed in this fashion, or something?
I literally had a dream where I visited Hell, sold my soul for a bowl of good clam chowder (because you could get barbecue, burgers, steak, and Mexican food down there for a reasonable price in earthly currency, but anything else was *extra*), and having done that was given a choice of torments: 1 hour of hellfire or a short series of 3-hour lectures on hip-hop. I chose hellfire (but then SpongeBob Squarepants suffered it for me for some reason - ever the generous soul, he).
** spoiler omitted **
As I always expected, God is a potato. I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Today I went on the Keep Our NHS Public march in Leeds, which was pretty substantial (1,000? 1,500? A lot of people for Leeds, anyway, but it's a live issue and there are a couple of large hospitals near the city centre, so maybe not so surprising).
One of the local (and one of the most decent) MPs turned up; there were also three bands - one Irish folk, one samba, and one sort of funky marching band who spent most of their time playing 'Caravan' over and over again.
Pinko Bingo score would have been crap, had the Economic, Philosophical and Social Review man not turned up, along with someone representing the World Socialist Website. As it was, I was barely into double figures. However, we did outdo the CPGB (ML) in a tankie-off, so VICTORY has been declared.