[Educationforall] spam con huevos labor news, views and concerns, 5.05.12-II
Carlos Pelayo
cgpelayo at hotmail.com
Sat May 5 23:35:29 UTC 2012
68 Dems, 1 Republican Urge Obama Not to Ban "Buy-American" Incentive for Domestic Manufacturing PATRIOT ACT (12) HOW THE SUPER-RICH HAVESECEDED FROM THE UNITED STATES "Truthdiggers of the Week: The May Day Occupiers" Occupied Oakland's May Daze Disappointingly Little Changes After ICE Review of Secure Communities, Say Advocates The Crushing Burden of Student Debt "WE CAN CHANGE WAL-MART IF WE ALL COME TOGETHER"(LCLAA) ‘We Don’t Go to Work to Be Touched’: Sexual Harassment in the Warehouse New Equal Employment Rulings Help Transgender, Ex-Offender Workers Get & Keep Jobs
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/912609/68_dems,_1_republican_urge_obama_not_to_ban_%22buy-american%22_incentive_for_domestic_manufacturing/
68 Dems, 1 Republican Urge Obama Not to Ban "Buy-American" Incentive for Domestic ManufacturingBy Staff | AlterNet
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
TENTH BIRTHDAY OF THE USA PATRIOT ACThttp://nsarchive.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/happy-10th-birthday-usa-patriot-act/ PATRIOT ACT CIVIL LIBERTIES VIOLATIONShttp://www.netscientia.com/patriot_truth2.html PATRIOT ACT EXTENDED http://iquestionauthority.wordpress.com/2010/02/26/the-patriot-act-extended-and-not-going-anywhere-soon/ PATRIOT ACT VS CONSTITUTIONhttp://ocoathkeepers.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/patriot-act-vs-constitution/ REFORM THE PATRIOT ACThttps://www.aclu.org/reform-patriot-act PATRIOT ACT SIGNED INTO LAW BY MACHINEhttp://www.menwithfoilhats.com/2011/05/patriot-act-signed-into-law-by-machine-4-more-years-of-government-terror/ DOES THE PATRIOT ACT VIOLATE CITIZEN'S RIGHTS?http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2010/0222/Supreme-Court-Does-part-of-Patriot-Act-violate-citizens-right SURVEILLANCE UNDER THE PATRIOT ACThttps://www.aclu.org/national-security/surveillance-under-patriot-act THERE'S A SECRET PATRIOT ACT, SAYS SENATORhttp://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/05/secret-patriot-act/ OUR CORPORATE CONTROLLED CONGRESS & THE PATRIOT ACThttp://authenticallywired.com/2010/12/16/our-corporate-controlled-congre-can-only-reform-the-illusion/ WASN'T THE PATRIOT ACT ABOUT TERRORISM?http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110908/02534215846/wasnt-patriot-act-supposed-to-be-about-stopping-terrorism.shtml PUBLIC REMAIN DIVIDED OVER PATRIOT ACThttp://pewresearch.org/pubs/1893/poll-patriot-act-renewal MOM SAYS PATRIOT ACT STRIPPED SON OF DUE PROCESShttp://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5049867/ WHAT THE PATRIOT ACT DOES FOR YOUhttp://original.antiwar.com/giraldi/2011/03/30/what-the-patriot-act-does-for-you/ THE PATRIOT ACT AND THE DEATH OF CIVIL LIBERTIEShttps://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/06/20-10 PATRIOT ACT PLANNED BEFORE 9/11http://www.globalissues.org/article/342/the-usa-patriot-act-was-planned-before-911 PATRIOT ACT WARRANTS MOSTLY USED FOR DRUGShttp://boingboing.net/2011/09/07/patriot-act-search-warrants-overwhelmingly-used-for-drugs.html IMPACT OF THE USA PATRIOT ACThttp://www.fepproject.org/commentaries/patriotactupdate.html SECRET PROVISIONS OF THE PATRIOT ACThttp://www.classwarfareexists.com/secret-provisions-in-patriot-act-not-revealed-to-americans/ THE UNPATRIOTIC PATRIOT ACThttp://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul114.html DOES THE PATRIOT ACT VIOLATE PRIVACY RIGHTShttp://www.dezynemusic.com/2011/09/28/is-the-patriot-act-violating-privacy-rights-essay-by-dezyne/ UNSETTLING PROVISIONS OF THE PATRIOT ACThttp://abcnews.go.com/Politics/sunsetting-provisions-patriot-act-revives-privacy-debate/story?id=9173895 PATRIOT ACT PROTECTS FROM FREEDOM & DEMOCRACYhttp://newsjunkiepost.com/2011/02/08/patriot-act-protecting-you-from-freedom-and-democracy/ PATRIOT ACT EXTENSION SIGNED BY OBAMAhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/27/patriot-act-extension-signed-obama-autopen_n_867851.html
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
HOW THE SUPER-RICH HAVE SE- EDED FROM THE UNITED STATES
January 10, 2012 NOTES ON NAFTA - THE MASTERS OF MANKINDhttp://www.chomsky.info/articles/199303--.htm
It was in 1993 during Congressional deliberation over the North American Free Trade Agreement. I was having lunch with a staffer for one of the rare Republican members of Congress who opposed the policy of so-called free trade. I distinctly remember something my colleague said: "The rich elites of this country have far more in common with their counterparts in London, Paris and Tokyo than with their own fellow American citizens." That was just the beginning of the period when the realities of outsourced manufacturing, financialization of the economy and growing income dispar-ity started to seep into the public consciousness, so at the time it seemed like a striking and novel statement. At the end of the cold war, many writers predicted the decline of the traditional nation state. Some looked at the demise of the Soviet Union and foresaw the territorial state breaking up into statelets of different ethnic, religious or economic compositions. This happened in the Balkans, former Czechoslovakia and Sudan. Others, like Chuck Spinney, predicted a weakening of the state due to the rise of fourth-generation warfare and the inability of national armies to adapt to it. The quagmires of Iraq and Afghanistan lend credence to that theory. There have been hundreds of books about globalization and how it would break down borders. But I am unaware of a well-developed theory from that time about how the super-rich and the corpo-rations they run would secede from the nation state. I do not mean secession in terms of physical withdrawal from the territory of the state, although that happens occasionally.(i) It means a with-drawal into enclaves, a sort of internal immigration, whereby the rich disconnect themselves from the civic life of the nation and from any concern about its well-being except as a place to extract loot. Our plutocracy now lives like the British in colonial India: in the place and ruling it, but not of it. If one can afford private security, public safety is of no concern; if one owns a Gulfstream jet, crumbling bridges cause less apprehension - and viable public transportation doesn't even show up on the radar screen. With private doctors on call, who cares about Medicare? To some degree, the rich have always secluded themselves from the gaze of the common herd; for example, their habit for centuries has been to send their offspring to private schools. But now this habit is exacerbated by the plutocracy's palpable animosity toward public education and public educators, as Michael Bloomberg has demonstrated. To the extent public education "reform" is popular among billionaires and their tax-exempt foundations, one suspects it is as a lever to divert the more than one-half trillion dollars in federal, state and local education dollars into private hands, meaning themselves and their friends.(ii) A century ago, at least we got some attractive public libraries out of Andrew Carnegie. Noblesse oblige like Carnegie's is presently lacking among our seceding plutocracy. In both world wars, even a Harvard man or a New York socialite might know the weight of an Army pack. Now, the military is for suckers from the laboring classes, whose subprime mortgages you just sliced into CDOs and sold to gullible investors in order to buy your second Bentley or rustle up the cash to employ Rod Stewart to perform at your birthday party. Courtesy of Matt Taibbi, we learn that the sentiment among the super-rich toward the rest of America is often one of contempt rather than noblesse; Bernard Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot, says about the views of the 99 percent: "Who gives a crap about some imbecile?" Steven Schwarzman, the hedge fund billionaire CEO of the Blackstone Group who hired Rod Stewart for his $5 million birthday party, believes it is the rabble who are socially irresponsible. Speaking about low-income citizens who pay no income tax, he says: "You have to have skin in the game. I'm not saying how much people should do. But we should all be part of the system." But millions of Americans who do not pay federal income taxes pay federal payroll taxes. These taxes are regressive and the dirty little secret is that over the last several decades they have made up a greater and greater share of federal revenues. In 1950, payroll and other federal retirement contributions constituted 10.9 percent of all federal revenues; by 2007, the last "normal" economic year before federal revenues began falling, they made up 33.9 percent. By contrast, corporate income taxes were 26.4 percent of federal revenues in 1950; by 2007, they had fallen to 14.4 percent. Who has skin in the game now? As is well known by now, Schwarzman benefits from the "Buffett Rule": financial sharks typically take their compensation in the form of capital gains rather than salaries, thus knocking down their income tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent. But that's not the only way Mr. Skin-in-the-Game benefits: the 6.2-percent Social Security tax and the 1.45-percent Medicare tax apply only to wages and salaries, not capital gains distributions. CAPITAL GAINS TAXES, FAIRNESS, AND NEUTRALITYhttp://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/capital-gains-taxes-fairness-and-neutrality/333986 Accordingly, Schwarzman is stiffing the system in two ways: not only is his income tax rate less than half the top marginal rate, he is shorting the Social Security system that others of his billionaire colleagues like Pete Peterson say is unsustainable and needs to be cut. This lack of skin in the game may explain why Willard Mitt Romney is so coy about releasing his income tax returns. It would also make sense for someone with $264 million in net worth to joke that he is "unemployed," as if he were some jobless sheet metal worker in Youngstown, when he is really saying in code that his income stream is not a salary subject to payroll deduction. The chances are good that his effective rate for both federal income and payroll taxes is lower than that of many a wage slave. The real joke is on the rest of us. After the biggest financial meltdown in 80 years - a meltdown caused by the type of rogue financial manipulation that Romney embodies - and a consequent long, steep drop in the American standard of living, who is the putative front-runner for one of the only two parties allowed to be competitive in American politics? None other than Romney, the man who says corporations are people. Opposing him, or someone like him, will be the incumbent President Barack Obama, who will raise up to a billion dollars to compete in the campaign. Much of that loot will come from the same corporations, hedge fund managers, merger and acquisition specialists and leveraged buyout artists the president will denounce in pro forma fashion during the campaign. The super-rich have seceded from America even as their grip on its control mechanisms has tightened. Mike Lofgren
http://www.truth-out.org/have-super -rich-seceded-united-states/1326127151http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FREEDOMSFORUM/message/162410
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/truthdiggers_of_the_week_the_may_day_occupiers_20120504/
"Truthdiggers of the Week: The May Day Occupiers" -- There were doubts about whether Occupy Wall Street could pull off the massive day of protest its organizers spent many months planning. But demonstrators in New York City and elsewhere joined forces with labor unions and immigrant-rights activists to remind the public that there is a working class and May 1 is its holiday.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
http://truth-out.org/news/item/8920-occupied-oaklands-may-daze
Occupied Oakland's May DazeSusie Cagle, Truthout: "May Day 2012 in Oakland was not, in fact, a general strike. That was never made more clear than when occupiers on an anti-gentrification march went in to a downtown restaurant and some of the workers pushed them out - because they wanted to work…. May Day was supposed to mark a rebirth of the movement, the return of thousands to the streets, the recapturing of the nation's imagination. Hopes were high. For a six-month-old movement, perhaps they were too high." Read the Article
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
http://truth-out.org/news/item/8923-disappointingly-little-changes-after-ice-review-of-secure-communities-say-advocates
Disappointingly Little Changes After ICE Review of Secure Communities, Say AdvocatesYana Kunichoff, Truthout: "A tweak to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Secure Communities program, would allow the agency to withhold placing undocumented immigrants stopped by local law enforcement for traffic violations into deportation proceedings until 'conviction for the minor criminal traffic offense.' But the change ... still means that undocumented immigrants are at risk for being deported for missing a traffic light or speeding. So what has really changed in the policy? Disappointingly little, say advocates." Read the Article
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/8901-the-crushing-burden-of-student-debt
The Crushing Burden of Student DebtDavid Graeber, Mike Konczal, Brian Kalkbrenner and Sarah Jaffe, n+1: "One of my favorite moments of Occupy Wall Street was the second or third night. There's this guy, he's playing a carnival barker, and he says, 'Step right up! Write down what you owe to the bank; write down what you're worth to the 1 percent!'... and people were writing down what they owed and what type of debt. And I thought, this is a radical moment, because we are articulating this number out loud, and we are putting it in a political context, and this is the moment I've been waiting for." Read the Article
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
2 attachments (total 4.1 MB)Walmart C...pdfDownload(1987.9 KB)Walmart T...pdfDownload(2.2 MB)Download all as zipDear LCLAA member, As the largest employer of Latinos in the United States, Wal-Mart has a tremendous impact on our community. I have had the privilege of meeting with several Wal-Mart retail and sub-contracted warehouse workers. They’ve shared heart-wrenching stories of struggling to raise a family on low wages, while sometimes facing life altering injuries at work. I have been moved by their courage to stand up to their employer, and I ask you to join me and stand with them. In the aftermath of the New York Times report on Wal-Mart’s corruption scandal and reported cover-up, this is the moment for us to come together and call on Wal-Mart to make real change. It shines a much needed light on Wal-Mart’s misguided “growth-at-any-cost” business strategy and the negative impact the company has on Latino communities in the U.S. and abroad. Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, Wal-Mart has unparalleled size and impact on the American economy as the country’s largest employer and retailer. Wal-Mart’s business practices and political donations from the Walton family have had a negative impact on the Latino community (SEE ATTACHED DOCUMENTS). On April 19, workers and community leaders released a set of proposals calling on Wal-Mart and the Walton heirs, the richest family in America with a combined wealth of nearly $100 billion—more than 30 percent of American families combined, to commit to improve workers’ lives, rebuild communities, guarantee workers’ rights, and elevate global and sustainable living standards. In the Inland Empire in Southern California, more than 80,000 workers—the majority are Latino/a immigrants—are moving billions of dollars of goods through a vast network of warehouses hidden away on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Many are paid poverty wages and often face illegal and dangerous working conditions. Wal-Mart uses a subcontracting scheme to exploit tens of thousands of these workers while trying to deny accountability, by hiring firms or temp agencies that pay the workers at or near the $8 per hour minimum wage. Workers have reported wage theft, where the employing firms don’t pay for the hours worked. They are often labeled “temporary” even if they have been working at a warehouse for years. Instead of providing health coverage or sick pay, the largest retailer pushes its employees’ medical costs onto taxpayers. Significant political donations from the company and family have gone to support politicians who oppose fair and humane immigration reform, and support e-verify policies and militarization of the US-Mexican border. The largest recipient of contributions from the Walton family is Rep. John Boozman (R-Ark.), who had a score of 0% on a scorecard publicized by the William C. Velasquez Institute on Immigrant Justice. Wal-Mart associate Venanzi Luna from South Gate, California shared with me, “For years my co-workers and I have been saying that this company has lost its way. But with this whole corruption cover-up scandal, we didn’t know it had gotten this bad.” Outraged that top Wal-Mart executives were involved in illegal activity and then tried to cover it up, Venanzi has started an online petition calling for the resignation of the retailer’s Chairman Rob Walton and Chief Executive Officer Mike Duke. In just a few days, the petition has garnered more than 5,000 signatures. I am calling on you today to join me to stand with these brave workers and demand change at Wal-Mart. I urge you to take action now: · Write a letter to Wal-Mart’s home office, and demand that Wal-Mart Chairman Rob Walton and CEO Mike Duke resign immediately and appoint an independent investigation of the corruption scandal and reported cover-up. The failure by the company’s leadership to adequately respond to the alleged illegal activities in a timely and effective manner has undermined their ability to lead the company. Wal-Mart Home Office c/o Board of Directors 702 SW 8th Street Bentonville, Arkansas 72716-8611 · Direct your members, affiliates, and allies to sign on to Wal-Mart associate Venanzi Luna’s online petition calling for the resignations and independent investigation:http://www.change.org/petitions/walmart-end-the-corruption-and-the-cover-up · Go to www.WalmartAt50.org and share your story. Together, we can build a stronger America than the one that Wal-Mart and the Walton family have created – an economy with good, decent paying jobs, safe workplaces that are free from discrimination, responsible corporate citizens that build strong communities, a cleaner environment and a better economic future for all families. This is a unique opportunity for us to come together and ensure that Wal-Mart and the Walton family, which controls half of the company, use their considerable power to make changes that will improve – not tear down, the lives of workers and our communities. Please join me. The only way we can change Wal-Mart to rebuild America is if we all come together. In solidarity, Esther LopezInternational Vice PresidentDirector, Civil Rights and Community Action DepartmentUnited Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW)National LCLAA Executive Board Member
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
http://www.alternet.org/story/155098/%E2%80%98we_don%E2%80%99t_go_to_work_to_be_touched%E2%80%99%3A_sexual_harassment_in_the_warehouse?akid=8718.16102.tixGkG&rd=1&t=24
-‘We Don’t Go to Work to Be Touched’: Sexual Harassment in the WarehouseThe same industry structure that allegedly allows for widespread violations of labor law also contributes to a climate of unchecked sexual harassment and retaliation. READ MOREBy Kari Lydersen / In These Times@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
http://www.alternet.org/story/155266/new_equal_employment_rulings_help_transgender%2C_ex-offender_workers_get_%26_keep_jobs?akid=8718.16102.tixGkG&rd=1&t=27
-New Equal Employment Rulings Help Transgender, Ex-Offender Workers Get & Keep JobsThis week, the EEOC ruled that transgender workers are protected under the Civil Rights Act and laid out guidelines restricting criminal background checks.READ MOREBy Josh Eidelson / In These Times
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Material appearing here is distributed without profit or monitory gain to those who have expressed an interest in receiving the material for research and educational purposes. This is in accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. section 107..http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html Listen to Native Voice One http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/nv1/ppr/index.shtml
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.aktivix.org/pipermail/educationforall/attachments/20120505/bac37cdc/attachment-0001.html>
More information about the Educationforall
mailing list