Sunday, November 8, 2009
So called health bill - women's rights under attack again
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Over ten million
Friday, November 6, 2009
A Handwritten Letter and Pigs and Prison

right: two pigs not in the hole
It was raining and the doorbell rang.
On the porch was a neighbor's kid who was locked out.
She came in and sat down at the kitchen table with us all. My own daughters cornered her with the compliments that younger girls shower on older girls; mostly centering around her clothes and backpack.
Once settled, she pulled a letter out of the handful of mail in her hand. "My mom says if I'm the first one home that I should take the mail. And this one's for me," she beamed.
Sure enough the letter on top was for her. She opened up a handwritten letter and as the four of us sat around eating snacks, she proceeded to read out the contents. "It's from my dad."
As she began to read the letter outloud pausing to conquer an unfamiliar word here and there, I felt like stopping her, but let it go. I began concluding her dad was in prison. There was an apology from him and several 'I love you's.' I again felt like interupting, but she had the kind of pride in this letter that she needed to share with others. She finished up with his questions about what she did for Halloween and a self-addressed envelope. "We never have stamps in our house."
Marketta is 9 and one of 12 siblings. She is thoughtful and polite and probably more emotionally grown up than most kids her age.
A month ago the son of another neighbor resurfaced. I guessed he went to jail by the way his mother was evasive about his wherabouts. He has kids too. He's a good guy, but he also grew up in a society that is fundamentally flawed. A racist society. A society with rotten values based around money. A broken society.
According to the Bureau for Justice Statistics, a leg of the Department of Justice, over 7 million people are on probation, parole or incarcerated in jail or prison. Half of those incarcerated in state prisons are non-violent offenders. Some people need to be in prison. But many, many, do not.
There are many beneficiaries for the US having the highest rate of imprisonment in the world. The capitalist politicians love to get tough on crime to get elected. The mutli-billion dollar prison industrial complex makes a big chi-ching every time someone is found guilty, everytime a prison meal is served, everytime a new corrections facility is built.
For the children of those incarcerated, on the other hand, capitalism compounds the racism and poverty that bears down on them daily, by taking away their fathers and mothers.
Two sets of mass killings.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Unemployed in California, Week 34: The $20,000 ring

Had another dark humor moment in the Union's unemployment line today.
The cloud hovering over union construction is very dark. A recent San Francisco Chronicle article explained that the return to the commercial building boom of the past decade will be years away. In the first 9 months of 2009 residential building permits for the San Francisco region were down 73%! The bailed-out banks aren't lending and the Bay Area construction loan delinquency rate is 17%.
Four thousand of San Francisco's construction union labor force were out of work, a figure that may be near 30%. It's about the same at my local.
So as we stood around this morning at the union hall, we got talking about the state of our nation. One guy was better off than me, he was eligible for the second Federal unemployment benefit extension. We chatted, then another guy chimed in that he didn't even get the first extension and his money ran out months back. We broached the healthcare issue: it cost me two of my four weekly unemployment checks this month to pay for my family's health benefits. But then, the guy with the tooth missing up front, chimed in he was worse off, and as he told his story, he confirmed, he was worse off.
"My health benefits ran out long ago. I am deep, deep in debt. I got a kidney stone. I went to the ER. Shit, by the time I got out two days later, they billed me for $20,000!"
We all looked at eachother, then he added, "they even charged me $60 for oxygen - they charged me for the f****** air I breathed. Hospital f***** air." Then someone yelled, "you shoulda brought your own f****** air man." Another dude yelled, "f****** $20,000 for a kidney stone, did they at least give you the stone to take home?" To which our friend quickly replied, "No man! I'll tell 'em I ain't paying till they give me what's mine! And f*** them, let them try collecting that $20,000."
After a brief silence a guy sitting across the room piped in, "hey if you ever get that kidney stone dude, put it in a ring, that'll be the most expensive ring you've ever owned!" We all smiled and got up to move down the line.
Capitalist Health Care: it's just precious.
The US. The best country in the world.
I used to see a guy now and then who was a car dealer. He was also a right wing US fanatic. "This is the best country in the world he would continually tell me." I asked him. If somebody was going to sell you a car and he or she said it was the best car in the world would you not respond by saying that you would like to test the others. Well you have never been in any other country in the world so how would you know if this is the best one or not? He would grumble in rage and walk away.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
A Sense of Powerlessness

In today's economic upheavals, downsizing, layoff, merger, and bankruptcies have cost hundreds of thousands of workers their jobs. Millions more have been shifted to unfamiliar tasks within their companies and wonder how much longer they will be employed. Adding to the pressures that workers face are new bosses, computer surveillance of production, fewer health and retirement benefits, and the feeling they have to work longer and harder just to maintain their current economic status. Workers at every level are experiencing increased tension and uncertainty, and are updating their resumes.
The loss of a job can be devastating, putting unemployed workers at risk for physical illness, marital strain,anxiety, depression, and even suicide. Loss of a job affects every part of life, from what time you get up in the morning, to whom you see and what you can afford to do. Until the transition is made to a new position, stress is chronic.
