Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Tea Party Anthem (I Want My Country Back)

Saint Ayn Rand visits the day after Christmas!

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Friday, November 22, 2013

John Cleese Carefully Considers Your Futile Comments

Song for the night: The Byrds - He Was A Friend Of Mine

Tired Teachers - What TN teachers really think about new evaluations



“I am tired of trying to plan five different lessons a day that hit 61 different indicators on a rubric, and that’s just to score a rock-solid 3. I am tired of the public being convinced that Knox County is moving in the right direction when I see good teachers at my school in tears at some point during the day on a regular basis. I am tired of having to waste instruction time to give tests every week, whether I need to or not, just to have data,” Hopson says in the video. She’s calm, not impassioned, but the strength of her feeling—and her anger—comes through.
In that video, Hopson is standing in front of empty seats. But by the time the Nov. 6 board meeting rolled around, the room was full of hundreds of people wearing bright red to signify their support. Two dozen educators (and one student) told the board their concerns, over and over, often to raucous, deafening applause from the crowd.
“Why don’t we just manufacture robots instead of students,” one person said. “Even though I love to teach, I no longer love my job,” stated another. “In 28 years, I’ve never ever, ever seen morale as low as it is right now,” said a third. And the final speaker said, “There seems to be no foreseeable end of the assault on public teachers.”

Cenk mocks Stossel



I thought he does beg Fox for money.

The start of the Christmas season


Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Michael Parenti -- Some Labor History!

Hegemony Abroad Requires a Security State at Home - McGovern Pt2

Joe Biden Called and Congratulated the Wrong Man for Boston Mayoral Election

After securing a victory in Tuesday evening’s Boston mayoral election, Democratic mayor-elect Marty Walsh fielded congratulatory phone calls from President Obama and outgoing Mayor Thomas Menino.

Missing from that list? Vice President Joe Biden.

But here’s the catch: Biden did call Marty Walsh. Just not the Marty Walsh.


Instead, he called former Sen. Edward Kennedy campaign staffer Marty Walsh, beginning the conversation with “You son of a gun.”

MassLive scribe (and Mediaite contributor) Garrett Quinn reports that, according to staffers, the two spoke briefly before Biden called and left a voicemail on the real Walsh’s phone.

At least he initially called someone involved in politics and not any of the several dozen other Martin Walshes in the Boston metro area.

The “wrong” Walsh took the mixup in stride, telling the Boston Globe that he expects similar calls to come from more officials in coming weeks.

“We’re a dime a dozen in Boston,” he said. “I probably know eight Marty Walshes.”

UPDATE: According to The Hill, former senate staffer Marty Walsh also received erroneous phone calls from Minneapolis mayor R. T. Rybak and DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL).

Originally published: http://www.mediaite.com/online/joe-biden-called-and-congratulated-the-wrong-man-for-boston-mayoral-election/

JP Morgan: Plundering Then, Now, and Forever? Absurdity Today

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

The Real News: Ex-CIA Analyst on Snowden and Calling Journalists Terrorists

Kevin Cullen on the anti-union bent of the local media

Mercifully, the campaign for mayor of Boston is over, and while I have no idea who will emerge the winner at the polls, I am quite certain who lost most in this race: union workers.
If there was a message, both explicit and subliminal, in all the debates and some of the news coverage, it’s that the city’s unions and unions in general are peopled by greedy, unreasonable, insatiable Bolsheviks who would gladly make Boston go the way of Detroit as long as they can get Bunker Hill Day off.
Funny, but I don’t know union workers who think like that, but then I’m in the tank.
My father was able to raise a family, and my mother was able to be a stay-at-home mom, because he belonged to a union. I belong to a union, and at one point, for reasons that remain a mystery, was elected president of the editorial workers at the Boston Herald back when Ronald Reagan became the darling of free marketeers everywhere by busting up the air traffic controllers union...

...The Globe and the Herald editorial pages can’t agree on what time it is, but they agree on the danger of electing a mayor who is a union activist.
It’s perfectly legitimate to ask if Marty Walsh would be beholden to unions, especially given the amount of money that unions have given his campaign, but both candidates should have been asked just as often if they’d be beholden to developers or law firms or any number of other monied interests.
The emphasis on the threat that unions pose to the future of the city left many union workers wishing they were only half as powerful as their critics believe them to be.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/11/05/laboring-under-cloud/UuIfXRYB8oHrIsP0jERTfP/story.html

Friday, November 1, 2013

Song For Night: Joan Baez - Diamonds and Rust (original)

Part 3 of Diane Ravitch on Melissa Harris-Perry

R

Part two of Diane Ravitch on Melissa Harris-Perry

Diane Ravitch on Melissa Harris-Perry

FCC Ignoring Media Giants Buying Up Local News Stations - Josh Stearns Discusses

Amy Burle's on-line event for the year anniversary of the publication of Out Across the Nowhere

A close friend of the blog. Please get out and support her. Amy has a very unique voice and perspective and her book is available on the side. I believe this is the start of a long productive career. An excerpt of Amy's work published here over a year ago: http://laborspains.blogspot.com/2011/08/hungry-original-fiction-that-first.html

Bernie Sanders the War on the Poor

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Sunday, October 13, 2013

We've done plenty of politics but it is time to celebrate our two huge comeback wins.



http://gif.mocksession.com/2013/10/disappearing-torii-hunter/

SNL on Government shut down very funny

Good tweet from David Corn

Bill Moyer: On the Sabotage of Democracy

How Upton Sinclair and EPIC Swept the Democratic Primary 1934


The First "Attack Ads" On the Screen--Plus a Classic Book



One of the first attack ads when MGM set out to destroy writer Upton Sinclair.

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Song for the night Natalie Maines Performs 'Without You'

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BCRR9OK/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00BCRR9OK&linkCode=as2&tag=labspai-20

ALEC Wants Back in the Shadows


Hopefully the next Mayor of Boston Labor Day '13

Marty Walsh will be running against the privatization money coming in from outside Boston hoping to get its hands on the Public School riches. You want to see the future of Boston look at all the schools closing in Chicago and ask is this the future of education you want for the city.

McDonald's Employee Confronts Executive: I Can't Afford Shoes For My Chi...


Scaring Up The White Vote The G O P Southern Strategy Lives at Fox New...



Always was there and still there. The Acorn boogie man who wasn't guilty of anything.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Song for the night: Doobie Brothers Live at Wolf Trap - South City Midnight Lady

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002DD42X8/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B002DD42X8&linkCode=as2&tag=labspai-20

Government Shutdown Doppelgangers- Day 10

Outsourcing America Exposed - Lisa Graves Discusses

Who Is The Better Progressive Choice In The Boston Mayor's Race? Chris F...



No doubt about it Marty Walsh is my guy.

Another problem with Obama


Hysterically funny Colbert on Shep Smith and Fox's new news desk

Atlas Shrugged its way into 56th Anniversary

Assange: Obama's exceptionalism talk an excuse not to obey rules (INTERV...

Government Shutdown Explained 2- Day 9

Glenn Greenwald speaks of US war on journalism

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Song for the night: The Eagles - Waiting In The Weeds



You're holding hands and laughing
And now the ferris wheel has stopped
You're swinging on the top
Suspended there with him

And he's the darling of the chic
The flavor of the week is melting
Down your pretty summer dress
Baby, what a mess you're making http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002Q7JYPC/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B002Q7JYPC&linkCode=as2&tag=labspai-20

Miley Cyrus - We Did Stop Official Video [SNL Parody Government Shutdown...



We can defund what we want.

ASK A SLAVE Ep 5: Two Sides to Every Coin

Matt Taibbi on How Wall Street Hedge Funds Are Looting the Pension Funds...




After they steal the money. Their politicians will say we've got to cut back because their is no money to give you for what we've allowed to be stolen. Let's move on. Nothing to see here.

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Smokey non-essential government employee


Song for the night: I Miss You - Stevie Nicks (lyrics on screen)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001OGRQGA/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001OGRQGA&linkCode=as2&tag=labspai-20

Government Shutdown Reality- Day 4

NEWSNIGHT: Glenn Greenwald full interview on Snowden, NSA, GCHQ and spying


The TPP a 'Corporate Trojan Horse'

Republicans Asked About Giving Up Salaries During Shut Down, Hilarity En...

Clay Bennett succinct on shutdown


The Ed Show - McConnell and Paul caught on camera

OH-08: John Boehner - "Temper Tantrum"

Friday, October 4, 2013

What the Republicans think of government work. I wonder why they all want to work for it

Song For the Night: Bruce Springsteen - I'll work for your love

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00138JATK/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00138JATK&linkCode=as2&tag=labspai-20

Sen. Warren on the Shutdown and Why Government Matters

Full Show 10/3/13: Obamacare: The GOP's Waterloo

Government Shutdown Truth- Day 3

The Daily Show does a masterful job taking on Fox and government shut down

Republican Texas Rep. Randy Neugebauer Confronts Park Ranger at WWII Mem...



Idiots in Congress. Tea party lunkheads.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Song for the night: Elton John - Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny) (with lyrics) - HD


Has GOP Already Defeated Obamacare? State Opt-Outs Leave Millions of Poo...

Has GOP Already Defeated Obamacare? State Opt-Outs Leave Millions of Poo...

Gov't Crackdown on Golden Dawn Won't Defeat Greek Fascism


Golden Dawn...or Dusk? Greek far-right party faces criminal charges

Jesse Ventura: Shutdown is 'despicable,' pardon Manning and Snowden

Government Shutdown Hypocrisy- Day 2

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Song For the Night: Kenny Loggins "Conviction of the Heart" (MuzikNusantara)



This is a close personal friend who has a wonderful new book out. It is also available to the right.

Parent Trigger - False Promises, Divided Communities and Disrupted Young...



The move to subvert funds from the public.

Mash of Ted Cruz filibuster: your tax dollars at work.

IBEW, Manufacturer Partnership Brings Jobs Back from China

Shadows of Liberty - Trailer

SNEETCHES.wmv

MSNBC Chris Hayes Explains Obamacare For Dummies Fox & Friends

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Song for the Night: Lindsey Buckingham - Live in Minneapolis - End of Time



Link: http://amzn.to/1d0ACjh


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005J55PBA/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B005J55PBA&linkCode=as2&tag=labspai-20

Violent Tea Party Mob Attacks Media. (Raw)


VOICES: Organize the South or die

As the AFL-CIO and its affiliates contemplate the future of the labor movement, national labor leaders should look to the South for a glimpse of what that future might be. Workers in the South have the lowest wages, the fewest worker protections, and the least union representation. For decades, southern states have been "right to work for less" and have limited or denied their public employees the right to collectively bargain. Given the region's culture and laws, unions have not invested heavily in organizing the region. And so, it's no surprise that voters in the South keep electing state and federal officials who vote time and again against workers' interests.


The anti-worker culture of the South has an impact far beyond the Mason-Dixon line. Southern Tea Party conservatives block progressive policies in Congress. Companies are increasingly moving to the South in order to lower labor costs and avoid union contracts. And more states are adopting the union-busting laws that originated in the South and now form the basis for ALEC model bills.

More here: http://www.southernstudies.org/2013/09/voices-organize-the-south-or-die.html



Huey Long assassinated this day in 1935


SC Student Calls out Michelle Rhee

Saturday, September 7, 2013

No More Cloudy Days-The Eagles

Glenn Greenwald on the End of Internet Privacy

Life Of Brian - Spat At In The Face!



BEN: You lucky, lucky bastard.
BRIAN: What?
BEN: Proper little jailer's pet, aren't we?
BRIAN: What do you mean?
BEN: You must have slipped him a few shekels, eh?
BRIAN: Slipped him a few shekels? You saw him spit in my face!
BEN: Ohh! What wouldn't I give to be spat at in the face! I sometimes hang
awake at night dreaming of being spat at in the face.
BRIAN: Well, it's not exactly friendly, is it? They had me in manacles!
BEN: Manacles! Ooh oooh oh oh. My idea of heaven is to be allowed to be
put in manacles... just for a few hours. They must think the sun shines out o' your arse, sonny.
BRIAN: Oh, lay off me. I've had a hard time!
BEN: You've had a hard time?! I've been here five years! They only hung me
the right way up yesterday! So, don't you come 'rou--
BRIAN: All right. All right.
BEN: They must think you're Lord God Almighty.
BRIAN: What will they do to me?
BEN: Oh, you'll probably get away with crucifixion.
BRIAN: Crucifixion?!
BEN: Yeah, first offence.
BRIAN: Get away with crucifixion?! It's--
BEN: Best thing the Romans ever did for us.
BRIAN: What?!
BEN: Oh, yeah. If we didn't have crucifixion, this country would be in a
right bloody mess.
BRIAN: Guards!
BEN: Nail him up, I say!

Greenwald: UK's Detention of My Partner Was "Incredibly Menacing" Bid to...

Miley Syria

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Song for the night: The Promise (NYC, 78)

Villanova Scores on Fake Punt vs Boston College | ACCDigitalNetwork



Great fake punt at BC game.

The Obamacare Debate in Ohio



Protesters outside the official event.

B-3 Bomber

Obviously Randy Newman's song would work well too



No one likes us-I don't know why
We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try
But all around, even our old friends put us down
Let's drop the big one and see what happens

We give them money-but are they grateful?
No, they're spiteful and they're hateful
They don't respect us-so let's surprise them
We'll drop the big one and pulverize them

Asia's crowded and Europe's too old
Africa is far too hot
And Canada's too cold
And South America stole our name
Let's drop the big one
There'll be no one left to blame us

We'll save Australia
Don't wanna hurt no kangaroo
We'll build an All American amusement park there
They got surfin', too

Boom goes London and boom Paris
More room for you and more room for me
And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American town
Oh, how peaceful it will be
We'll set everybody free
You'll wear a Japanese kimono babe
And there'll be Italian shoes for me

They all hate us anyhow
So let's drop the big one now
Let's drop the big one now

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Citizen Koch Trailer



Best line: listen America you are unimportant.

How PBS Censored Koch Brothers Documentary - Tia Lessin Discusses

Glenn Greenwald comments on Schieffer's objectivity

Since we first began reporting on NSA stories, there has been much debate over who is and is not a "journalist" and whether being a journalist requires "objectivity" (i.e., a pretense to not having opinions). Under this metric, does Bob Schieffer qualify?
Two weeks ago, Schieffer spewed a vicious, one-sided attack on Edward Snowden, accusing him of "putting the nation's security at risk and running away." Echoing Dick Cheney and Rudy Giuliani, Schieffer added:
I know eleven people who died or lost a member of their family on 9/11. My younger daughter lived in Manhattan then. It was six hours before we knew she was safe. I'm not interested in going through that again. I don't know yet if the government has over-reached since 9/11 to reinforce our defenses, and we need to find out. What I do know, though, is that these procedures were put in place and are being overseen by officials we elected and we should hold them accountable.
"I think what we have in Edward Snowden is just a narcissistic young man who has decided he is smarter than the rest of us. I don't know what he is beyond that, but he is no hero. If he has a valid point — and I'm not even sure he does — he would greatly help his cause by voluntarily coming home to face the consequences."
How come you're allowed to have that opinion and be an "objective journalist"? How come none of the people so very upset that those who are reporting on the NSA stories have opinions are objecting to any of that or calling the TV host an "activist"? The answer is clear: "objectivity" in Washington journalism does not mean being free of opinions; it means the opposite: dutifully echoing the official opinions and subjective mindset of those in political power. In the eyes of official Washington and its media mavens, spouting opinions is not a sin. The sin is spouting opinions that deviate from the ones expressed by and which serve the interests of those in power.
...Bob Schieffer is a more slavish, shameless spokesman for the NSA than anyone actually employed by that agency. But what one really finds here is a reverence for military officials like Michael Hayden so extreme that it's actually uncomfortable to watch.
new Pew poll this weekend found that while the US public holds the media in very low esteem, the one function they actually value is having the media serve as a watchdog over political leaders. The percentage of Americans who value this press function has risen considerably this year.
This has happened despite the likes of NSA advocate and government spokesman Bob Schieffer continuing to dominate and shape establishment TV outlets. The fact that his "objectivity" as a journalist would never be questioned by those who raise such issues demonstrates that this concept of journalistic objectivity has only one real purpose: to delegitimize all views other than those that prop up and glorify those who wield the greatest power in US political and financial circles.