UAW Workers Confront Shelby--Good For Them!

Via a diary posted on Daily Kos:

UAW workers took a little trip to Senator Shelby's office to talk to him about the auto bail-out plan--and confronted his staffers about the fact that he is willing to screw the American auto worker. (Shelby was conveniently out of his office...) Check out this video:



The rest of us could learn a lesson from the UAW workers who paid Shelby's office a visit--we need to start making our elected officials listen to us, even if it means staging sit-ins in their offices, massive public protests, strikes and boycotts--otherwise, the criminals who have nearly bankrupted us--along with their right-wing co-conspirators, will continue to run roughshod over us.

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Even Cats Like Obama

I've always heard it said that animals and little kids can tell whether a person is good or evil...this kitty can't seem to get enough of Barack Obama.

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Union Busting Rethugs Blame UAW For Defeat Of Bailout Legislation

First of all, get one thing straight--the Republican senators who refused to pass a bailout measure for the auto industry had no intention of reaching a compromise with the UAW. They wanted the negotiations to fail. They want to see US automakers go out of business. They want to see labor unions come to an end.

Nothing would please them more than seeing American workers stripped of their right to at least a minimum wage and reasonably safe working conditions. Apparently, the amount of wealth they have helped transfer out of the hands of the working class and into the hands of the top 1% isn't enough--they will settle for nothing less than the reduction of US workers to the slave status enjoyed by sweatshop workers in places like China and Pakistan. To many of the very rich, the "commoners" are nothing but "production units" whose sole useful purpose is to generate ever greater wealth for the already obscenely wealthy.

For decades, the labor unions--in spite of the problems they have had--have often been at the forefront of the battle to protect workers--union and nonunion alike--from the heartless greed and lack of respect for human rights displayed the elites. Destroying the unions would constitute a major victory on their part--and the UAW is one of the most powerful unions around. Taking them down would make it much easier to kill all the rest...

The problem for us is that the top 1% have already managed to purchase the legislative process--which is why the financial industry got a $700 billion dollar bailout with no strings attached--but the country's workers and homeowners were told to screw themselves. Until we demand that Congress serve the interests of the many instead of the greedy inclinations of a few, we can expect America's downward spiral to continue.

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Bottom Of The Barrel Tuna Casserole

Here's something really cheap you can make if you are in such bad shape you are digging change out of the couch in order to come up with grocery money:

1 box dry mac & cheese (the cheap store brand stuff you can buy for 50 cents a box), prepared
1 can store brand tuna

Just mix the can of tuna in with the mac & cheese--you can eat it just like this, or if you want, you can doctor it up by adding a can of cream of mushroom soup; some drained, canned veggies; a little chopped onions or some mushrooms. You can top it with dry bread crumbs or more cheese.

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White House To Step In And Help Auto Industry

Wow--for once, George Bush is stepping up to the plate and doing something right for a change:

After refusing for weeks to tap the $700 billion financial rescue fund, the administration suggested it would dip into the fund to at least permit the companies to continue their operations until the new Congress and new administration arrive next month.

“Because Congress failed to act, we will stand ready to prevent an imminent failure until Congress reconvenes and acts to address the long-term viability of the industry,” said Brookly McLaughlin, a Treasury spokeswoman.

Of course, self interest is at the heart of their decision, as Dick Cheney warned Republicans that they would be "remembered as the party of Herbert Hoover if the auto industry fails." Too bad George and Dick weren't concerned a little sooner...like 8 years ago.

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More Crookedness From Drug Makers

According to an article in the NYT, Wyeth paid ghostwriters to produce medical journal articles favorable to Prempro, a hormone replacement therapy for menopausal women--despite the fact that the drug was found to raise the risk of breast cancer.

It is truly sad that we, the ordinary citizens in this country, really have no way of knowing whether or not the drugs prescribed to us by our doctors are safe or if they even work--the profit motive seems to trump every other concern within the drug research field.

I think Congress should enact stricter controls on the ways drug companies can market pharmaceuticals--to both doctors and the public at large.

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Sarah Palin's Church Burns

Oh, great, just what we need--something that will give right-wing nutjobs fodder for conspiracy theories for the next twenty years:

A "suspicious" fire devastated the church attended by Alaska Gov. and former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Friday night in her hometown of Wasilla, the church's minister said.

--snip--

The newspaper said Palin released a statement after the fire in which she said she stopped by the church Saturday morning and offered an apology to the assistant pastor "if the incident is in any way connected to the undeserved negative attention the church has received since she became a vice presidential candidate."(emphasis mine)

The right-wing religious wackos will interpret her statement as laying the blame for the fire on Democrats. Expect them to start crowing about the way they are "under attack" and are "being persecuted" by those evil liberals--even if the fire turns out to be due to some mundane cause or if it was caused by some stupid kids messing around.

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