Baristas unionize at Starbucks in Warren

[canuck]

^ What makes you think that?

What part of "I'm fine with that" [post 6) makes you say that about me?

I think he means you and Shawn Fain would prolly take turns kissing Chump’s Tush.

[EASTSIDER BALDUCK]

It was said, "all is fair in love and politics"
By whom is not clear.

Fun to watch you banter around, but I think we all want a golden ring.

For family, fortune, and happiness, many flavors to have.

cliff

[Henry Whalley]

Videos: Michael Parenti: The Death of UAW Leader Walter Reuther [[with Dave Emory, 1996) | UAW Local 2250

[Dbest]

^ What makes you think that?

What part of "I'm fine with that" [post 6) makes you say that about me?

Where was the phoney outrage from these freedom fighters when news surfaced that Hunter Biden was selling favors around the world?
A crackhead son of a senator was sitting on the board of the third largest natural gas producer in UKRAINE. Nothing to see here, move along...

Crackheads shitty art pieces going for 500k a pop while dad is serving as president. Nothing to see here...

These people are mad that Trump is his own man, fuck the uniparty theatre. Everybody in DC hates Trump, and it's not because he's a dictator.

[Henry Whalley]

... Hunter Biden...

Slowly I turned https://youtu.be/jj4oHpgVZjM?t=33

[Henry Whalley]

Michigan autoworkers wary of Trump’s tariffs: ‘Playing poker with people’s lives’ | Trump tariffs | The Guardian

[ABetterDetroit]

Where was the phoney outrage from these freedom fighters when news surfaced that Hunter Biden was selling favors around the world?
A crackhead son of a senator was sitting on the board of the third largest natural gas producer in UKRAINE. Nothing to see here, move along...

Crackheads shitty art pieces going for 500k a pop while dad is serving as president. Nothing to see here...

.

The crackhead and his corruption and the tentacles leading to the president were disgusting. That we certainly agree on.

Where we diverge is the “Nothing to see here.” There you are making up your own narrative out of thin air. Hunter destroyed Biden’s reputation to the point that he was unelectable. Fact. His own party knew it, Biden came to know it and withdrew his candidacy for President. Fact. In no way was Biden going to remain president for another term because he was no longer on the ticket. Fact. The crackheads and Biden’s corruption was certainly a major problem to Biden. Fact. Your “nothing to see here…” is just a made up BS.

[canuck]

The crackhead and his corruption and the tentacles leading to the president were disgusting. That we certainly agree on.

Where we diverge is the “Nothing to see here.” There you are making up your own narrative out of thin air. Hunter destroyed Biden’s reputation to the point that he was unelectable. Fact. His own party knew it, Biden came to know it and withdrew his candidacy for President. Fact. In no way was Biden going to remain president for another term because he was no longer on the ticket. Fact. The crackheads and Biden’s corruption was certainly a major problem to Biden. Fact. Your “nothing to see here…” is just a made up BS.

There is the small matter of Bobby Kennedy Jr, Secretary of Health and Human Services. He may have overcome his heroin addiction, but his speech makes Sleepy Joe sound ebullient. His son is also going to gain from his financial arrangements in lawsuit referrals. Drain the swamp, lol.


Conflicts of interest disclosure statement
Kennedy disclosed to an HHS ethics official his arrangement with a law firm specializing in pharmaceutical drug injury cases, Wisner Baum, whereby Kennedy earns 10% of fees awarded in contingency cases that he refers to the firm. If confirmed as HHS director, Kennedy would retain the arrangement only in cases that do not directly affect the federal government. He listed his income from Wisner Baum for this arrangement as $856,559. Before assuming the position of director of HHS, he will have from the law firm the complete and final payments for concluded cases against the U.S. government.He added that will assign his son his interests in litigation against the maker of Gardasil, a vaccine given to prevent cervical cancer caused by human papillomavirus

[Henry Whalley]

... his heroin addiction...

RFK must be turning in his grave.

[canuck]

RFK must be turning in his grave.

Not his ex-wife…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Richardson_Kennedy

[ABetterDetroit]

There is the small matter of Bobby Kennedy Jr, Secretary of Health and Human Services. He may have overcome his heroin addiction, but his speech makes Sleepy Joe sound ebullient. His son is also going to gain from his financial arrangements in lawsuit referrals. Drain the swamp, lol.


Conflicts of interest disclosure statement
Kennedy disclosed to an HHS ethics official his arrangement with a law firm specializing in pharmaceutical drug injury cases, Wisner Baum, whereby Kennedy earns 10% of fees awarded in contingency cases that he refers to the firm. If confirmed as HHS director, Kennedy would retain the arrangement only in cases that do not directly affect the federal government. He listed his income from Wisner Baum for this arrangement as $856,559. Before assuming the position of director of HHS, he will have from the law firm the complete and final payments for concluded cases against the U.S. government.He added that will assign his son his interests in litigation against the maker of Gardasil, a vaccine given to prevent cervical cancer caused by human papillomavirus

The current administration is looking to fire up this sweetheart deal all over again. Want to get your friends and family paid for real? Get on the Saudi payroll! No worries with sending the most dangerous tech known to man to a monarchy in the ME that is constantly at war with its neighbors and could be overthrown by the very terrorists that committed 911 at any time. The payday is Tremendously Great!

The Saudis have only fucked us over repeatedly. Iraq, oil embargo, Yemen, 911, turning on the taps to break our domestic oil industry half a dozen times. Might as well get in bed with them with nuclear tech. Nothing could possibly go wrong as long as Jared Kushner makes 10s of Billions to spread around the family.

So sweet, Valadimir wanted in on the action.

The report, which is the second to be released on this topic and was based on a review of 60,000 documents, details how IP3 lobbied the Trump administration to relax their standards for any future nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia. Typically, such an agreement would require the other country to agree to a “Gold Standard” that prevents the risk of nuclear proliferation, which the Saudis have already refused to comply with. IP3, which is assembled of companies wanting to build nuclear reactors in Saudi Arabia, is unhappy with this “total roadblock” to their plans to strike it rich in the Persian Gulf—and they have been making their case to the upper echelons of the Trump team. According to the report, IP3 officials were granted such “unprecedented access” to Trumpworld that they considered the administration an “extended team member,” and officials met directly with “President [Donald] Trump, Jared Kushner, Gary Cohn, K.T. McFarland, and Cabinet Secretaries Rick Perry, Steven Mnuchin, Mike Pompeo, Rex Tillerson, James Mattis, and Wilbur Ross.” This access, the report explains, “yielded promises from high-level government officials to support IP3’s efforts with Saudi officials.”
One particular figure who stands out in the House report is longtime Trump ally and former Trump inauguration chair Thomas Barrack, whom the report alleges was attempting to seek a position in the administration at the same time as he was “[[1) promoting the interests of U.S. corporations seeking to profit from the transfer of nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia; [[2) advocating on behalf of foreign interests seeking to obtain this U.S. nuclear technology; and [[3) taking steps for his own company, Colony NorthStar, to profit from the same proposals he was advancing with the Administration.” [[The New York Times reported separately Monday that federal prosecutors are looking into Barrack's foreign entanglements in the Gulf region and their connection to the Trump campaign.) Also implicated in the report is former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who served as an adviser to IP3. In 2016, the report alleges, Flynn told business partners about upcoming interactions with key officials in Russia and the Persian Gulf—including Vladimir Putin—and “offered to use these contacts to further IP3’s business interests.”

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019...2MRYTl68JwQok9

[canuck]

Laffs.

I looked up that Thomas Barrack guy. He was also the chairman of Miramax, the company the Weinstein brothers founded. When Harvey was sentenced, the company was in big trouble, and Barrack did what he does, buys troubled assets cheaply. He made his fortune buying troubled mortgages in 2007… A regular stand up guy.

The State Department staff has problems writing up a bio without making boo boos. Here is his bio related to the nomination for Ambassador to Türkiye in March 2025. The writer says that he is a recipient of an honorary doctorate in Juris Prudence. This doesn’t exist, it is called a Juris Doctorate. His Legion de Honor is spelled Legion of Honour or légion d’honneur in French. Finally, they couldn’t even spell French President Sarkozy’s name right: Sarkoszy.

https://www.state.gov/barrack-jr-tho...iye-march-2025

[Jimaz]

FWIW: Starbucks Workers United.

[Henry Whalley]

Rivera Court photo in today's WSJ:
How the U.S. Lost Its Place as the World’s Manufacturing Powerhouse - WSJ

Informative article, though naturally it makes no mention of union busting, the murder of Walter Reuther, etc.

[Rocket]

How the U.S. Lost Its Place as the World’s Manufacturing Powerhouse - WSJ

Informative article, though naturally it makes no mention of union busting, the murder of Walter Reuther, etc.

It also doesn't properly credit President Bill Clinton with causing most of it.

His trade deal [China relations Act of 2000] allowed China to swallow up much of our manufacturing.

Just one example being the loss of Michigan's Tool & Die industry. In the years after the trade deal Clinton enacted, south eastern Michigan alone lost 30,000+ tool & die jobs.

Some were sizable businesses, while others were as small as a father and son team with a self-feeding lathe or whatever in their garage.

[Zacha341]

I distinctly remember that! Had family living in Livonia in the late eighties before black people lived there. I recall a fam member having a supply-chain business relationship with one of many Tool and Die shops along Schoolcraft in Livonia and along Stevenson Hwy, over and up thru Troy, MI.

Most long gone now. Varied sized shops as you mention.

...Just one example being the loss of Michigan's Tool & Die industry. In the years after the trade deal Clinton enacted, south eastern Michigan alone lost 30,000+ tool & die jobs.

Some were sizable businesses, while others were as small as a father and son team with a self-feeding lathe or whatever in their garage.

[Henry Whalley]

... "allowed China to swallow up much of our manufacturing."

Now we're getting somewhere. Clinton was a union-busting neoliberal, and a GOP southern democrat drag -- which is why traditional democrats despise him. There should be no confusion in that the sincerest protectionists were always industrial trade unionists.

These are the democrats who voted against H.R. 4444:


Bernard Sanders VT
James Barcia MI
David Bonior MI
John Conyers MI
John Dingell MI
Dale Kildee MI
Carolyn Kilpatrick MI
Lynn Rivers MI
Debbie Stabenow MI
Bart Stupak MI
Earl Hilliard AL
Ed Pastor AZ
Fortney Stark CA
Joe Baca CA
Howard Berman CA
Gary Condit CA
Sam Farr CA
Bob Filner CA
Tom Lantos CA
Barbara Lee CA
Juanita Millender-McDonald CA
George Miller CA
Grace Napolitano CA
Nancy Pelosi CA
Lucille Roybal-Allard CA
Loretta Sanchez CA
Brad Sherman CA
Maxine Waters CA
Lynn Woolsey CA
Mark Udall CO
Rosa DeLauro CT
Sam Gejdenson CT
John Larson CT
James Maloney CT
Corrine Brown FL
Peter Deutsch FL
Alcee Hastings FL
Carrie Meek FL
Robert Wexler FL
Cynthia McKinney GA
Neil Abercrombie HI
Patsy Mink HI
Janice Schakowsky IL
Rod Blagojevich IL
Jerry Costello IL
Danny Davis IL
Lane Evans IL
Luis Gutiarrez IL
Jesse Jackson IL
William Lipinski IL
David Phelps IL
Bobby Rush IL
Peter Visclosky IN
William Delahunt MA
Edward Markey MA
James McGovern MA
Michael Capuano MA
Barney Frank MA
John Moakley MA
John Olver MA
John Tierney MA
Elijah Cummings MD
Albert Wynn MD
John Baldacci ME
William Luther MN
James Oberstar MN
Collin Peterson MN
Martin Sabo MN
Bruce Vento MN
William Clay MO
Richard Gephardt MO
Pat Danner MO
Karen McCarthy MO
Ronnie Shows MS
Gene Taylor MS
Bennie Thompson MS
Melvin Watt NC
Eva Clayton NC
Mike McIntyre NC
Robert Menendez NJ
Robert Andrews NJ
Rush Holt NJ
Frank Pallone NJ
Bill Pascrell NJ
Donald Payne NJ
Steven Rothman NJ
Tom Udall NM
Shelley Berkley NV
Edolphus Towns NY
Joseph Crowley NY
Eliot Engel NY
Michael Forbes NY
Maurice Hinchey NY
Carolyn McCarthy NY
Michael McNulty NY
Jerrold Nadler NY
Major Owens NY
Louise Slaughter NY
Nydia Velazquez NY
Sherrod Brown OH
Tony Hall OH
Stephanie Jones OH
Marcy Kaptur OH
Dennis Kucinich OH
Ted Strickland OH
James Traficant OH
Peter DeFazio OR
David Wu OR
Robert Borski PA
Robert Brady PA
William Coyne PA
Michael Doyle PA
Chaka Fattah PA
Joseph Hoeffel PA
Tim Holden PA
Paul Kanjorski PA
Ron Klink PA
Frank Mascara PA
John Murtha PA
Patrick Kennedy RI
Robert Weygand RI
James Clyburn SC
John Spratt SC
Barton Gordon TN
Robert Clement TN
Nicholas Lampson TX
Gene Green TX
Ciro Rodriguez TX
Robert Scott VA
Frederick Boucher VA
Norman Sisisky VA
David Obey WI
Gerald Kleczka WI
Tammy Baldwin WI
Thomas Barrett WI
Alan Mollohan WV
Nick Rahall WV
Robert Wise WV

[Vic01]

People rich enough [or foolish enough] to pay $3 - $7 for coffee can now pay a little more.

I'm fine with that.

In the meantime, I'll brew 2 large mugs worth of much better coffee at home, WITH the fresh organic creamer of my choice for $1.20

Where's the like button? or a thumbs up? I agree completely. I often watch the same folks drinking the high dollar dessert drinks [[I refuse to call them coffee) turn around and complain about inflation, low wages, and the fact that they'll never be able to afford to retire

[EASTSIDER BALDUCK]

Thumb up here

Where's the like button? or a thumbs up? I agree completely. I often watch the same folks drinking the high dollar dessert drinks [[I refuse to call them coffee) turn around and complain about inflation, low wages, and the fact that they'll never be able to afford to retire

[Henry Whalley]

...
These are the democrats who voted against H.R. 4444:

P.S. Spencer Abraham voted 'Yea', as did both Levins, but both Levins voted 'Nay' on H.R. 3450: NAFTA.

P.P.S. The impetus for a North American free trade zone began with Ronald Reagan, who made the idea part of his 1980 presidential campaign.

[Henry Whalley]

What is a General Strike [[and why did the U.S. outlaw them)? https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qB1enpJwl7U

[Jimaz]

What is a General Strike [[and why did the U.S. outlaw them)?...

And if the Posse Comitatus Act becomes violable regardless, what then remains to deter general strikes?

Imagine the preposterous image of someone brewing coffee under duress. LOL!

[Henry Whalley]

Imagine the preposterous image of someone brewing coffee under duress.

IIRC Walter Reuther called Taft-Hartley a slave-labor bill, but SCOTUS didn't find it to be unconstitutional. It has been called a Capitalist Manifesto.

A general strike would be civil disobedience long overdue.

[CassTechGrad]

The Insurrection Act of 1807 provides a statutory exception to the Posse Comitatus Act 1878. The Insurrection Act empowers the president
to deploy the military and National Guard units in specific circumstances, such as civil disorder, insurrection, and armed rebellion.

January 20, 2025, His Holiness President Trump ordered the Defense Dpt. and Homeland Security to submit recommendations regarding control of the southern border, including whether to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807

[Henry Whalley]

The Project Gutenberg eBook of On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, by Henry David Thoreau