02-03-2012, 10:23 AM | #2041 |
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What were $28 an hour jobs w benefits have been slashed in half (benefits slashed as well). $14 an hour jobs will not save the middle class. If you increase jobs by cutting one decent job in half and making two jobs out of it, how the fuck is that helpful? This article is interesting in that it does touch on cutting hourly rates for jobs a bit. And so much more. But to me losing good paying jobs and gaining minimum wage jobs or jobs that don't pay enough for one person to afford to live on their own, never mind support a family on, isn't a gain at all. As the government begins to tell us how there are more jobs available let us be mindful of what kind of jobs they are talking about.
Who Really Rescued the Big Three? The Deal That Saved Detroit and Banned Strikes by LAURA FLANDERS President Obama is, as AP puts it, “wearing his decision to rescue General Motors and Chrysler three years ago as a badge of honor” on his reelection campaign. It saved jobs and working communities, brought the US auto industry back from the brink. In January, U.S. auto sales were up eleven percent over a year ago, and a proud president was cooing to the college students of Ann Arbor, Michigan: “The American auto industry was on the verge of collapse and some politicians were willing to let it just die. We said no… We believe in the workers of this state.” You’re going to be hearing a lot about the deal that saved Detroit in the next few months, not least because likely opponent Mitt Romney was against it. Then Governor Romney wrote in the fall of 2008 that if the big three auto companies received a bailout “we can kiss the American auto industry goodbye.” Romney bad; Obama good; Big Three back. The Deal with Detroit story is gold dust for Democrats. Reality is a bit more complicated. For one thing, it was Republican President Bush, not the Democrats’ Barack Obama, who originally decided not to stand by as the auto makers died. The deal saved an industry – US cars are still being made in the US — but it came at such a high price that in many ways it’s a whole new industry. The American auto industry that built middle class lives as well as cars — that one we kissed good-bye, and it may be a while before we see it back again. To review: in the fall of 2008, President George W Bush announced a $17.billion loan, split into $13.4 billion at once and another $4 billion in February. The billions for Detroit were tied tight with all the string that had not been attached to the trillions simply given away to Wall St. The Treasury never forced the financial industry to hand over majority shareholder control in exchange for access to the Troubled Asset Relief Program. No CEO of AIG or Bank of America or Well Fargo had to shrink a wage or skimp on a pension. (Far from it, the Government Accountability Office found that the “standard agreement between Treasury and the participating institutions does not require that these institutions track or report how they plan to use, or do use, their capital investments.”) Big bucks for the Big Three, by contrast, came with all sorts of ties – mostly around the neck of the United Auto Workers and their members. When the deal was finally worked out, under Obama’s “Car Tsar” (a man with zero manufacturing experience but oodles of admiration from NY developer Steve Rattner and Lawrence Summers) the worker’s concessions amounted to a slash in all-in labor costs from around $76 per worker-hour in 2006 to just over $50. Abandoning decades of principle, the UAW approved a two-tier wage structure in which new hires start at t$14/hr — roughly half the pay and benefits of more senior line workers. To top things off, Treasury demanded — just one more teeny thing – a strike ban. The pièce de no résistance! Under the government’s agreement with the companies, any strike by workers is grounds for forfeiting the loan. The timing couldn’t be more poignant. Seventy-five years ago, in the winter of 1936-37, it was a strike at General Motors that won the first victory for the one-year-old UAW, and won for organized labor the respect that made it possible to negotiate for those middle-class auto-makers’ lives. Late on December 30, 1936, autoworkers in Flint occupied a General Motors plant launching a strike that within less than a month, involved 135,000 workers in 35 cities across the country. When the union called for support in early January, 150,000 people showed up at Detroit’s Cadillac Square in a show of solidarity. The Sit-Down Strike as it came to be known, ended on Feb. 11, 1937 with a defeat for GM, but for forty-four days, the company used ever tactic to end the occupation. (Take courage Occupy Wall St!) In the dead of winter, owners turned off the heat to the occupied plants. Knowing the strikers’ depended on “solidarity kitchens,” they cut off food delivery. When police moved in on one of the plants in Flint in January, workers pelted officers with engine parts and police fired back tear gas and bullets, sending 28 injured workers to the hospital. Women formed an Emergency Women’s Brigade. The next time police threatened to storm the plant gates, they found their way blocked by women locking arms — the indominatble “Rolling Pin Army.” The battles of 75 years ago forced GM negotiators to recognize the union as the bargaining agent for the workers, and for a while at least, factory owners across the country negotiated in fear of a sit-down. Seventy-five years later Obama and the Democrats are cheerleading the deal that saved Detroit – and did away with the right to strike, at least temporarily. Now US auto sales are on the rise and with unemployment what it is, the companies say there’s a line around the block for those $14/hour entry-level jobs . “On the plus side we still have US based auto production,” says Ed Ott, former chair of the New York Central Labor Council. What are union rights going to be like going forward? “The unions say we’ll build back up. Let’s hope they’re right.” A more likely scenario is $14/hour auto jobs are here to stay. If the US wages low enough, they may draw jobs back from where they’ve gone to. As long as no one here is looking to increase taxes on the factory owners, offshore wages right here save employers the trouble and cost of off-shoring. What’s it mean for those workers’ families? Unless their low-wage lives are subsidized by more taxpayer-dollars in the form of free or low cost public services and help they’re in for pretty lean years. UAW President Bob King (praised for his “flexibility” ) is hopeful union strength will build back up. Heaven knows how. Lucky us. We missed it the first time. Now, it looks as if we get to experience the Gilded age all over again – and in another half century or so, some auto worker may decide to sit down and occupy a factory.
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02-03-2012, 02:39 PM | #2042 |
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Just received via email from MoveOn.org...
Breaking news: Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced that it is reversing its decision to ban grants to organizations under politically motivated investigation. The bad news is that it's not clear that it will continue funding Planned Parenthood.1 We'll keep up the pressure until it does.
1. "Komen caved. Or did it?" The Washington Post, February 3, 2012 |
02-03-2012, 04:56 PM | #2043 | |
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Komen - Huff Post article
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02-03-2012, 05:08 PM | #2044 |
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4 men sentenced to 4 years for the murder of a South African Lesbian. Some sense of justice from the tragedy...
http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/02/world/...html?hpt=hp_t2 |
02-03-2012, 05:20 PM | #2045 | |
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02-03-2012, 07:55 PM | #2046 |
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Hyp, Hyp, Hypocracy!!!
Interesting... maybe this will tke care of the recall efforts!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/0...th-prosecutors Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has hired two lawyers in advance of a meeting with the Milwaukee County district attorney, whose office is conducting investigation into members of Walker's staff. Charges have already been made against four Walker staffers and appointees as part of this investigation. Two former aides were charged with using public resources for Republican political campaigns, while the others are accused of, as Giles goat Boy put it: A Walker appointee, a Walker campaign aide, and a child molester embezzled money that was intended for disabled veterans.Walker claims the upcoming meeting with prosecutors is voluntary. He better hope these chitchats stay that way. ---------------- |
02-03-2012, 10:32 PM | #2047 |
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One Million Moms to JC Penney: fire Ellen, she's gay
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - One Million Moms -- a project of the American Family Association -- is very angry at JC Penney. No, not because it sells sweater vests (heck, Rick Santorum is a fan of those), but because the Texas-based department store has hired Ellen DeGeneres as a spokeswoman. And DeGeneres is -- cue the scary music -- gay, and open about it. "Funny that JC Penney thinks hiring an open homosexual spokesperson will help their business when most of their customers are traditional families," the million (or so) moms write on their website. "DeGeneres is not a true representation of the type of families that shop at their store. The majority of JC Penney shoppers will be offended and choose to no longer shop there." One Million Moms is asking people to call JC Penney to complain. With this campaign, One Million Moms, which claims to be "the most powerful tool you have to stand against the immorality, violence, vulgarity and profanity the entertainment media is throwing at your children," is going after one of the country's most-beloved television hosts. The moms want JC Penney "to replace Ellen DeGeneres as their new spokesperson immediately and remain neutral in the culture war." Fat chance, says the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination. "A vast majority of Americans today support Ellen as well as their LGBT friends and family members," Herndon Graddick, a GLAAD spokesman said in a written statement. "Selecting an out performer who has inspired and entertained millions, is not only a smart business practice, but a reflection of how LGBT Americans today are an integral and valued part of the fabric of our culture." DeGeneres' daytime talk show has more viewers than the American Family Association has moms. Between January 16 and January 22, "Ellen" averaged 3.38 million viewers -- or 2.38 million more people than the AFA has moms. American Family Association did not return a request for comment. (Editing by Chris Michaud) ================ ............... And ... now I have even more of an excuse to buy those new boots I want ... at JC Penney |
02-04-2012, 12:22 AM | #2048 | |
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02-04-2012, 01:10 AM | #2049 |
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Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Found in 37 U.S. States:
Drug-resistant bacteria can kill more than half of infected patients By Jason Koebler January 31, 2012 RSS Feed Print Half a world away, doctors in India are fighting outbreaks of bacterial infections that are resistant to more than 15 types of antibiotics. But closer to home, a similarly scary bug is making the rounds in intensive care and other long-term units of American hospitals. In at least 37 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, doctors have identified bacteria, including E. coli, that produce Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase, or KPC—an enzyme that makes bacteria resistant to most known treatments. It's much more prevalent in America than bacteria that produce NDM-1, the enzyme that has Indian doctors "hell scared," and, according to Alexander Kallen, a medical officer at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, the final outcome isn't much different: superbacteria that are hard to kill. "It's got a slightly different structure than [NDM-1]," he says of KPC. "But the bottom line is they're two different ways to produce bacteria that are resistant to a wide range of antibiotics." [Hospital Rooms Crawling With Drug-Resistant Germs.] That's bad news for infected patients—the mortality rate for patients infected with KPC-producing bacteria has been estimated to be as high as 50 percent. Doctors are advised to do their best to keep the bacteria from spreading, which explains why the problem is most prevalent in hospitals and other close-quarter medical units. Infected patients are often isolated. KPC has been seen in a wide range of bacteria, including E. coli, Salmonella, and K. pneumonia, which often affects hospitalized patients. These superbugs are resistant to nearly every weapon doctors can throw at them, including carbapenems, a class of antibiotic that the CDC calls the "last line of defense" against infections that are resistant to other types of antibiotics. There are a couple antibiotics that have been shown to kill these superbugs, but often at great risk to patients. In fact, the FDA has associated the use of these effective antibiotics with an "increased risk of death" in patients with pneumonia. That leaves many doctors scratching their heads. KPC-bacteria often grow on medical equipment such as catheters and ventilators, so doctors can sometimes remove that equipment or perform surgery to try to eliminate the infection from a patient's body. [Are Kids Brown-Bagging Bacteria?] CDC researchers, including Kallen, say that hospitals who haven't been vigilant about isolating patients with KPC-producing bacteria may have missed their chance. According to a paper co-authored by Kallen released last year, "failure to recognize CRE infections when they first occur in a facility has resulted in a missed opportunity to intervene before these organisms are transmitted more widely." The good news is that, at least for now, KPC-producing bacteria generally only infects people who already have compromised immune systems. "It can move into the wider community," says Kallen, "but we haven't seen much of that yet." jkoebler@usnews.com http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/...n-37-us-states |
02-04-2012, 09:44 AM | #2050 |
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Virginia Anti-Gay Adoption Rule Passed By State Lawmakers
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1253125.html
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02-04-2012, 10:35 AM | #2051 |
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02-04-2012, 11:49 AM | #2052 | |
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02-04-2012, 05:35 PM | #2053 |
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One Town's War on Gay Teens
long read....important issue http://www.rollingstone.com/politics...teens-20120202
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02-05-2012, 10:26 AM | #2054 |
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I love Farm Aid.
Get Your Organic Chili At the Super Bowl
SustainableBusiness.com News Football fans at the Super Bowl this weekend will be treated to the first organic foods served at the event. Farm Aid, probably best known for one of its founders, Willie Nelson, is headed to the Super Bowl with its homegrown chili. Their commitment is to provide a fair price to farmers that produce local or organic food and engage in ecological practices such as grass-fed meat or GMO-free food. They serve the food in compostable or recyclable packaging. Since 2007, Farm Aid's annual concert has distinguished itself as the first major concert event to serve family farm food in concessions and backstage. More than 100,000 concert goers have eaten this food, including organic hot dogs, local burgers, and farm-fresh corn on the cob. Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp organized the first Farm Aid concert in 1985 to raise awareness about the loss of family farms and to raise funds to keep farm families on their land. Since then, Farm Aid has raised more than $39 million to promote a strong and resilient family farm system of agriculture. |
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02-05-2012, 11:03 AM | #2055 |
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02-05-2012, 03:28 PM | #2056 | |
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02-05-2012, 04:49 PM | #2057 |
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Josh Powell..husband and suspect of missing Utah woman..Susan Powell
Just took the lives of both his boys and himself. Also injuring a case worker for the boys. Story below: http://www.fox13now.com/news/
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02-06-2012, 12:46 PM | #2058 |
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This article reminds me of this article.
World Understands Need to Prevent a Nuclear Iran, Barak Says
February 06, 2012, 6:53 AM EST http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...arak-says.html Obama Freezes Iranian Government, Central Bank Assets February 06, 2012, 1:05 PM EST http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...nk-assets.html The Lie Of The Century http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHART...tury_text.html Last edited by Slowpurr; 02-06-2012 at 12:48 PM. Reason: url not showing in post |
02-06-2012, 02:32 PM | #2059 |
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Contaminant in Drinking Water Linked to Mental Illness
From Medscape Medical News > Psychiatry
Megan Brooks January 30, 2012 — Prenatal and early childhood exposure to the organic solvent tetrachloroethylene (PCE) may raise the risk of certain psychiatric illnesses, particularly bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and schizophrenia, later in life, new research shows. The population-based, retrospective birth-cohort study showed that children in Cape Cod who were exposed to drinking water contaminated with PCE, which was used to line municipal water pipes, had almost a 2-fold increased risk for bipolar disorder compared with the general population. The study was published online January 20 in Environmental Health. Used widely in industry and to dry clean clothes, PCE is a well-known neurotoxin, Ann Aschengrau, ScD, and colleagues from Boston University School of Public Health in Massachusetts note in their report. PCE readily crosses the blood-brain barrier and has a high affinity for the lipophilic tissues in the central nervous system. The exact mechanisms for its neurotoxic effects remain unclear but include peroxidation of cell membrane lipids, alterations in the fatty acid profile of the brain, and loss of myelin and interactions with neuronal receptors. Exposure to PCE has been shown to cause mood changes, anxiety, and depression in people who work with it. To date, the long-term effect of this chemical on children exposed to PCE has been less clear, although there is some evidence that children of people who work in the dry cleaning industry have an increased risk for schizophrenia. To investigate further, the Boston team studied individuals born between 1969 and 1983 to married women who lived in towns in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, that had vinyl-lined asbestos-cement water pipes. Dose Response These pipes were installed by public water companies from the late 1960s through early 1980 to solve alkalinity problems in dead-end sections of their distribution systems. The liner was applied by spraying a mixture of vinyl resin and PCE. More than a decade elapsed before officials discovered that large quantities of PCE were leaching into the public water supplies. Surveys conducted in 1980 found that drinking water supplies in Cape Cod had PCE levels ranging from 1.5 to 7750 μ/L. Because replacing the pipes was prohibitively expensive, systematic flushing and bleeding were used to reduce levels below 40 μ/L, which was the maximum recommended level at the time. The maximum contaminant level for PCE is now set at 5 μ/L. The Cape Cod cohort included 1512 individuals. The participants included 831 persons with both prenatal and early childhood exposure to PCE and 547 persons who had not been exposed. Participants provided information on mental illnesses, demographic and medical characteristics, other sources of solvent exposure, and places of residence from the time of their birth through 1990. PCE exposure from the vinyl-liner water distribution pipes was assessed using water distribution system modeling software that incorporated a leaching and transport algorithm, the authors explain. The researchers did not see any meaningful increase in the risk for depression with prenatal and childhood PCE exposure (risk ratio [RR], 1.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.9 - 1.4). This finding was "both surprising and maybe reassuring," Dr. Aschengrau told Medscape Medical News, given that earlier research in PCE-exposed adults suggested an increased risk for depressive disorders. However, the researchers did find that individuals with any exposure during gestation and early childhood were at increased risk for bipolar disorder (RR, 1.8; 95% CI, 0.9 - 3.5) and PTSD (RR, 1.5; 95% CI, 0.9 - 2.5). Further increases in risk were observed for bipolar disorder (RR, 2.7; 95% CI, 1.3 - 5.6) and PTSD (RR,1.7; 95% CI, 0.9 - 3.2) among persons with the highest exposure levels. The risk of schizophrenia was also elevated among exposed individuals (RR, 2.1; 95% CI, 0.2 - 20.0), but the number of cases was too small to draw reliable conclusions, the authors note. "Risk Remains Real" The researchers note, however, that a study published in 2007 in Schizophrenia Research found a 3.4-fold increased risk for schizophrenia (95% CI, 1.3 - 9.2) among the offspring of parents who worked as dry cleaners. Adjusting for confounding factors did not appreciably alter the finding. Mary Perrin, DrPH, assistant professor of psychiatry and environmental medicine from the New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City, worked on that study. Medscape Medical News asked her for her thoughts on the Cape Cod study. "No one epidemiological study is going to prove anything. You have to build evidence, and my personal opinion is that it's another brick in the wall showing that we really need tighter regulation of these substances in the environment. The animal literature is quite clear on this," said Dr. Perrin. She added that the Cape Cod study is "methodologically a good study. The authors articulated the limitations of the study, which you can't ignore, and did not overstate the results, which are very interesting." Dr. Aschengrau and colleagues say the limitations of their study include the possibility of exposure misclassification and a lack of data on water consumption and bathing habits; self-reported mental illness data; and possible residual confounding as a result of missing data on several risk factors for mental illness. The low response rate is another limitation. It is possible that individuals with mental illnesses preferentially ignored requests to participate, the investigators note. This would have reduced the number of cases in the final sample. However, available evidence suggests that this did not introduce selection bias, the authors say. Dr. Aschengrau also noted that it is not possible to calculate the exact amount of PCE the participants in the study were exposed to. "Levels of PCE were recorded as high as 1550 times the currently recommended safe limit. While the water companies flushed the pipes to address this problem, people are still being exposed to PCE in the dry cleaning and textile industries and from consumer products, and so the potential for an increased risk of illness remains real," she said. Dr. Aschengrau and her colleagues added that independent investigations of similarly exposed populations are needed to corroborate their findings. The study was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Study investigator David Ozonoff, MD, PhD, is Co-Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Health. Dr. Ozonoff recused himself from all decisions regarding acceptance and publication of the manuscript. In 1980, he served as a witness in bankruptcy court in a suit against the Johns-Manville Corporation, manufacturers of the vinyl-lined asbestos-cement water pipes. He has also testified in personal injury and property damage cases involving exposure to tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene. Three years ago, Dr. Aschengrau served as a consultant in a personal injury case involving chlorinated solvent contamination. None of the parties in any litigation supported, reviewed, or had knowledge of this study. The other authors of this study have disclosed no relevant financial relationships. Environmental Health. 2012;11:2. Published online January 20, 2012. Abstract Medscape Medical News © 2012 WebMD, LLC Send comments and news tips to news@medscape.net.
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02-06-2012, 03:37 PM | #2060 |
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Thanks Anya. As I live on Cape Cod, this makes me not so happy. I always wondered why they flushed the water lines twice a year but never bothered to ask. They do a lot of weird stuff here. We also have abnormally high numbers of women with breast cancer on the Upper Cape which has been studied for decades with no specific findings. Translation - no conclusive proof the contamination from Otis Air Force base is affecting the health of people in the area. Nice place to live but not without its own hazards.
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