Monthly Archives: March 2011

Economy, Organized Labor, Politics

More Labor-Union Bullying In Wisconsin

Wasn’t it in January 2011 that President Obama called for setting a ‘new tone’ of ‘civility?’ And just a few weeks ago he and the First Lady had a bullying summit or some such? Apparently the Wisconsin State Employees Union, AFSCME Council 24, never got the message. Or they believed that the President was exempting labor unions from the general population.

They have become un-hinged and are now attacking businesses, large and small, with threats of a boycott if they don’t support their cause. That includes business who have said, hey, I want to stay out of it. Leave me alone.

Members of Wisconsin State Employees Union, AFSCME Council 24, have begun circulating letters to businesses in southeast Wisconsin, asking them to support workers’ rights by putting up a sign in their windows.

If businesses fail to comply, the letter says, “Failure to do so will leave us no choice but (to) do a public boycott of your business. And sorry, neutral means ‘no’ to those who work for the largest employer in the area and are union members.”

I learned a long time ago that one man’s rights end where another man’s nose begins. But what do they know about individual rights? Union individual is an oxymoron. The WSEU are community activists with an underworld twist. Nice business you’ve got there. Shame if something happened to it.

The point these union thugs miss is this. Aside from a place that provides goods and/or services, businesses are employers. And I don’t know of any employer who would hire an applicant that threatened him.

Hey, you’re going to hire me or you’ll pay the consequences. Yeah right. If they are so ugly and in your face when they’re not working for you. Why would anyone think they’ll change if you were to hire them? And sorry, take your anger, hate and belligerence somewhere else. Thank you very much.

Media, Middle East, War On Terror

United Flight 251 Diverted

News reports are not including the names or nationalities of the three men that caused the Washington D.C. to Portland, OR flight to land in Chicago. But passengers on the flight described them as ‘Middle Eastern.’

What are the chances they were from Israel?  That’s in the Middle East. They were probably just playing a game called ‘test the system.’ Want to play ‘guess their religion?’

More on this story at Debbie Schlussel.

 

Media, Politics, Religion, War On Terror

Herman Cain Explains ‘No Muslim’ Comment

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Potential candidate for president Herman Cain was asked one of those ‘gotcha’ questions by some reporter. Something like, would you put a Muslim in your cabinet?

Knowing that the Koran, or Quran, promotes deception (lying) for the purpose of advancing Islam, Mr. Cain is more correct than he might know in not putting blind faith in any Muslim.  Because of the Koran, it comes down to trust but verify doesn’t it?

Islam is the only religion that I know of that not only permits but requires deception under certain circumstances. We are engaged in a war right now against radical Islam. Given his explanation above, American Muslims that understand this will also understand why he answered the way he did.

What’s new is that Herman Cain is not going to be distracted by political correctness. Talk about a breath of fresh air.

Florida, Organized Labor, Politics

Pro-Choice, Union-Busting, Whatever

On Friday the Florida House approved HB  1021. Also referred to as a union-busting bill, it would ban automatic dues deduction in public sector labor unions and require members to sign off on the use of their dues for political purposes.

By Nancy Pelosi standards, the bill was approved with a bi-partisan vote of 73-40. No Democrats voted for it, and three Republicans voted against.

Whether the bill is a union busting bill or not, depends on what you believe the purpose of a labor union is.

Union members may still pay their dues via a check or credit card. And they may still consent to the labor union using their dues for political activism. In either case, if labor unions are as attractive as the union leaders make them out to be, then they have nothing to worry about. The union-busting side complains that “the bill would bar unions from engaging in political activity without permission from members.”

Not only is that exactly right, but it is the point of the bill. The crux of the issue is the usurping of their members’ rights by presuming that all of their members wish to contribute to a political activity that they do not agree with. You could say that this is a pro-choice bill.

In this bill, the workers are permitted a choice where heretofore they had none. It in no way prevents the unions from participating in political activism as they have always done, and support whatever candidate or party (as long as they’re Democrats) that they want. They have the same rights as a union as their members do as individuals. Or to put it another way, the union members have the same rights as individuals as the union does as a collective labor union. The SCOTUS has already established that campaign contributions are the same as political speech.

All statistics being equal, if you figure that about half the country is D and the other half is R, then one could expect that, when finally given the right to choose to fund their union’s political activity or not, that the union might lose about half of their political campaign funds.

The way I look at it, the end of unions bullying their members has finally come. Sucks to be a labor union president nowadays.

 

Pensacola

Tab Benoit In Pensacola, April 6

Heard on my satellite radio feed last night that Tab Benoit is coming to Pensacola. Playing at the Vinyl Music Hall, Wednesday, April  6, 2011.

Appearing with the  Voice of the Wetlands Allstars, it’ll be New Orleans blues by, as their website says, ‘legendary musicians who are at their musical prime.’

From his website . . .

Tab Benoit has assembled a stellar ensemble of fellow New Orleans musicians (including N.O. Legends which include Meters and Neville Brothers Cyril Neville, fellow roots-man Anders Osborne, fiddler Waylon Thibodeaux, influential New Orleans drummer Johnny Vidacovich, harmonica/ accordion player Jumpin Johnny Sansone, and New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief Monk Boudreaux. to forge a musical plea about the fragile eco-system that is the increasingly depleted wetlands surrounding their hometown.

Cheap tickets ($20-25) for what ought to be a super show.

2012 Election, Politics

Organizing For America Spamming Blogs

An Obama-bot named Diane Pearce commented on The Lunch Counter recently.  The comments were identical and had nothing to do with the topic. But are amusing nevertheless.

Diane Pearce Loves Barack Obama | March 25, 2011 at 9:19 pm

Just wanted to say that I am eployed at a large biotherapeutic company in Clayton NC and I endroce Barack Obama with all my being. I encourage all my friends and colleagues to say yes for Obama in 2012!! I LOVE YOU OBAMA

Point is that OfA is full speed ahead to distract anyone who will listen from Obama’s incompetence to start drumming up re-election support in 2012. The Lunch Counter has no problem with saying yes for Obama. Do you want him out of The White House? Go ahead, say ‘yes.’

Just don’t vote for him.

China, Iran, Middle East, North Korea, Politics, Russia, War On Terror

Mr. President, What Are We Doing In Libya?

Peggy Noonan wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal that perfectly lays out what Americans are thinking.

I cannot for the life of me see how an American president can launch a serious military action without a full and formal national address in which he explains to the American people why he is doing what he is doing, why it is right, and why it is very much in the national interest.

The absence of such a statement from our President, the Commander In Chief, is especially puzzling when you consider his previous position on the use of our military.

“I don’t oppose all wars … what I am opposed to is a dumb war.” – Barack Obama, 2002

For the first time, Obama is the Commander-in-Chief of a war that he authored rather than inherited. And the man who a decade ago anointed himself the arbiter of intelligent warfare is leading the U.S. into a conflict that is questionable on its merits and incoherent in its execution.

The blatant in-over-his-head behavior of our president is embarrassing. Certainly causing belly laughs in Iran, North Korea, China, and Russia.

Links: The Speech Obama Hasn’t Given |  Libya: Confusion, by Committee

Florida

Insuring A Drug Free Workplace For State Employees

Gov. Rick Scott signed executive order (11-58) Tuesday that will require drug testing of many current state employees as well as pre-employment testing for applicants.

“Floridians deserve to know that those in public service, whose salaries are paid with taxpayer dollars, are part of a drug-free workplace,” Scott said. “Just as it is appropriate to screen those seeking taxpayer assistance, it is also appropriate to screen government employees.”

Of course, the ACLU has their shorts in a wad over this. Citing a ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle in 2004 that random drug testing was unconstitutional, a violation of the Fourth Amendment as considered an unreasonable search.

The ACLU apparently missed the difference between purely random testing and Gov. Scott’s order which requires everyone be tested ‘at least quarterly.’ This order doesn’t apply to every state employee, just current employees in agencies that answer to the governor. Whoever they are.

Aside from the obvious benefits of assuring a drug-free workplace, as opposed to a free-drug workplace, there is a demonstrable economic advantage to such a policy in terms of insurance. Fewer accidents, less loss. All of which the taxpayers pay for.

The reference to taxpayer assistance refers to an initiative by the Scott administration to require those who apply for state benefits to agree to submit to a drug test as a qualification to receiving benefits. That proposal (SB 556) was approved unanimously Tuesday by the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.

But it’s not for everybody that applies.

The department may only screen an applicant who has been convicted of a drug felony within the prior 3 years and shall continue to screen that individual for 3 years after the date upon which the individual begins receiving temporary cash assistance.

Update 3/25/2011: SB 556 as amended expands the drug screening to . . .

[I]ndividuals who apply for benefits funded by the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program; making individuals responsible for bearing the cost of drug testing; requiring certain notice; providing procedures for testing and retesting; providing for notice of local substance abuse programs; providing that, if a parent is deemed ineligible due to failing a drug test, the eligibility of the children is not affected; providing an effective date.

The only exceptions are minors under 18 years old. The PDF of the bill is HERE, and is half the size (4 pages) of the original bill.

Links: Florida Gov. Rick Scott orders random drug testing of state employees |  Florida Senate – 2011 SB 556