One Great Union, One Great Strike!

More from the News that Pisses me off Category:

Senate GOP blocks union-organizing bill
The measure would have made it easier to gain a foothold at nonunion businesses. Democratic sponsors were unable to bring it to a vote.
By Joel Havemann, Times Staff Writer
1:22 PM PDT, June 26, 2007

Senate Republicans today blocked organized labor's top legislative priority this year: a bill designed to make it easier for unions to organize workers at nonunion workplaces.

No issue splits the national parties more starkly than organized labor, and today's vote was no exception. All 50 Democrats stood behind labor, and among the 49 Republicans, only Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania broke ranks.

The resulting tally, 51 to 48, left the Democratic majority nine votes short of the 60 it needed to cut off debate in the Senate and bring a bill to a vote.

The House passed the bill, 241 to 185, on March 1. That was 43 votes fewer than the two-thirds necessary to override the veto that could have been expected from President Bush.

The bill would have required employers to recognize unions if more than half of eligible workers signed union cards. Under a 60-year-old law, employers who are presented with union cards from a majority of their employees may demand an election by secret ballot, which is designed to prevent coercion of workers by unions.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said there was good reason for this safeguard.

"The secret ballot has been standard everywhere else in this country for more than a century," he said. "It simply hasn't been questioned. Americans have come to assume that in everything from electing their high school yearbook editor to their president, their vote is sacred and it is secret.

"That is, until now."

He said the bill that the Senate derailed today was written to help not workers but union bosses, who have watched helplessly as union membership in the United States has plunged, according to the Census Bureau, from 23% of the work force in 1983 to less than 14% in 2005.

Under the Democrat-sponsored bill, McConnell said, workers would be exposed to "coercion and intimidation by employers and union bosses alike."

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), a sponsor of the bill, argued that a rise in incomes of the rich -- and a concurrent decline in incomes of the poor -- coincided with a decline in union membership.

Thanks to unions' loss of bargaining power, he said, young men are now for the first time in American history earning less than their fathers did at the same age.

Giving unions the authority to organize workers on the strength of cards signed by workers, Kennedy said, would merely level a playing field that has been tilted by union organizers' lack of access to workers at the same time that "the employer has access to these individuals all day long."

Teach your children this song:

I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
Alive as you and me.
Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" said he,
"I never died" said he.

"In Salt Lake, Joe," says I to him,
him standing by my bed,
"They framed you on a murder charge,"
Says Joe, "But I ain't dead,"
Says Joe, "But I ain't dead."

"The Copper Bosses killed you Joe,
they shot you Joe" says I.
"Takes more than guns to kill a man"
Says Joe "I didn't die"
Says Joe "I didn't die"

And standing there as big as life
and smiling with his eyes.
Says Joe "What they can never kill
went on to organize,
went on to organize"

From San Diego up to Maine,
in every mine and mill,
where working-men defend their rights,
it's there you find Joe Hill,
it's there you find Joe Hill!

I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
alive as you and me.

Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" said he,
"I never died" said he.

Now News that makes me Happy:

Lugar Urges Quick Shift in Iraq War Strategy
By JEFF ZELENY
Published: June 26, 2007

WASHINGTON, June 25 — After offering a bleak assessment of the Bush administration’s strategy in Iraq, Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, the ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, said today that he was urging lawmakers and President Bush to change course quickly to protect a further erosion of America’s standing in the world.

“We’re heading into a very partisan era,” Mr. Lugar said in an interview today, following a speech he delivered on the Senate floor on Monday night in which he called on the administration to rethink its Iraq strategy. “The president has the opportunity now to bring about a bipartisan foreign policy. I don’t think he’ll have that option very long.”

For months, Mr. Lugar has kept his skepticism about the president’s Iraq policy to himself, seldom offering anything beyond a wait-and-see reply. But three weeks ago, Mr. Lugar said, he privately concluded that the troop buildup plan was not achieving its goals and he began preparing remarks he delivered Monday evening.

“In my judgment, the costs and risks of continuing down the current path outweigh the potential benefits that might be achieved,” Mr. Lugar said on the Senate floor. “Persisting indefinitely with the surge strategy will delay policy adjustments that have a better chance of protecting our vital interests over the long term.”

Mr. Lugar is among the highest-ranking Republican in Congress to call for a troop drawdown in Iraq, a position that Senator George Voinovich, an Ohio Republican, quickly echoed today in a letter to the president. While the White House moved to play down the criticism, the comments from the two Midwestern senators reverberated across Capitol Hill today, where other Republicans said their patience also was expiring.

“I think September is absolutely the endpoint of decision, whether individuals will come to a conclusion before that, I think is likely,” said Senator Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina. “What you’re beginning to see is a natural process of people evaluating the events on the ground in Iraq.”

White House officials attempted today to minimize the importance of Mr. Lugar’s comments, saying the senator’s opposition to the administration’s Iraq plan was nothing new. Speaking during his daily news briefing, the White House press secretary Tony Snow dismissed questions about whether the White House was concerned that Mr. Lugar’s criticism of on the Iraq war would encourage fellow Republicans to join him in his break with the president.

Still, the Bush administration is worked vigorously to limit any political damage, hastily setting up a meeting this week between Mr. Lugar and Mr. Bush’s national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley.

But Republican officials privately conceded that should the images out of Iraq continue to be bloody in September — a likelihood — the White House would find it that much harder to maintain Republican support for the strategy, if not the war itself. They acknowledged that flagging Republican support is likely to emerge during the next debate over the war appropriations and military spending this summer.

Democrats seized upon the remarks from the Republicans, particularly those by Mr. Lugar, and said they were a sign that the tide is shifting in the protracted Iraq debate.

“I am encouraged by what he said and it just adds to the momentum for change,” said Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, chairman of the Armed Services Committee. “Hopefully, he’ll take some very specific steps to implement what his words mean. They are powerful words.”

...and thats the way is see it:

JQP

Friggen' Cousin Molly

(yes, she is still here)

Hung-way-Over

(I am razor sharp today.)

shhh...

JQP

Aged like a fine Wine:

You say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too--yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.

Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party.

What a long Strange Trip it’s been:

JQP esq.

Your Hairy Pitted Girl:

(…for the month of June. Chastity has a body odor I find strangely reminiscent of sweet basil. She is also well known in tribal circles for her skills in brown rice candle making and passionate advocacy for the use of menstrual cups.)

It’s all about the Black Irish:

For everyone of you watching this at home, yes….
My Cousin Molly is in from out of town.
From a land far, far away…
and she has decided to bless us with her presence for the next 14 days
...or until her visa runs out and they deport her

She has been drinking Irish Car-Bombs since she got here.
Posts until the 28th will at best be hit and miss.

JQP

Your Drinks for the Weekend:

The Dirty Shirt and Soiled Thong:

Ingredients:
1/2 oz Absolut Kurant
1/4 oz Grand Marnier
1/4 oz Chambord raspberry liqueur
1/4 oz Midori melon liqueur
1/2 oz Malibu rum
1/4 oz Amaretto
1/2 oz Cranberry juice
1/4 oz Pineapple juice

Mixing instructions:
Shake ingredients in a mixing tin filled with ice cubes. Strain into a rocks glass. Effective with female recent college grads (and in the term effective, one should take the title largely into count). “I’ll have a Sapphire and Tonic, Tiffany wants a D Squared T”

The Rugby Rambo Shot

Ingredients:
1/2 oz Jägermeister
1/2 oz Rumple Minze

Mixing instructions:
Served chilled, I prefer mine presented in a dirty astray that has been thoroughly wiped out with a tainted raw pork chop wrapped in Tiffany’s thong, then again that’s how I roll.

Bottoms (or your choice of any other part of you body) up!

JQP esq.

Weeds in the Garden of the Soul:

(A candid shot, of one of the highly skilled members of my crack drink testing team. Tiffany is a recent graduate of Scottsdale Community College and the University of Phoenix Online, plus she is a real charmer.)

Thought for the Day:
Character is what you have left when you've lost everything you can lose. Evan Esar

On Walking in the Desert:
Tuesday night, I picked up my truck from the dealer downtown (where it was towed after being assaulted by a Jeep driven by a text messaging mad man). It looked great, hell they even cleaned out the inside for the first time this century. However, on my way to work I got a chance to take it up to highway speeds, there in lay my disappointment.

The fucking thing started shaking like a dog shitting razor blades.

So, I in the most professional voice I could muster I called the shop and very politely make the receptionist cry and the service manger run out and install a remote starter on his car. I have been very cool till now about this whole getting hit thing, but now if they are going to start fucking with me, I am going to get the slimmest personal injury lawyer in the valley and become a burr under their skin, or salt and sand ground into their fucking eye-balls.

Fuck my neck still hurts and they made me drive a KIA for over two weeks, is that not enough? Now they wish to fuck with a man’s truck. Why don’t they come over and kick my dogs or wipe their ass with my momma’s Bible

On Work:
I had my big office move this week, but I being a man who can at times be both ruthless and cunning (I am also a cunning linguist of some renown, but I digress) got to work early and moved the name tags on office assignments. As a result the day laborers put all my shit in a different office on the far side of the building, hidden away from prying eyes. By the time our crack team of building mangers caught the mistake they had already sent the laborers on their way.

Later they came to me and asked “Gee, JQP there was some kind of mix-up with the office assignments, you were supposed to get the new large glass walled one right off the main hall, instead they put you way back here, are you ok with this, cause’ we let the moving company go already?

I said “Well fellows, I hope you learned something from this mismanagement, I already un-packed (hell, I hadn’t packed a thing to begin with, let ‘em move my desk and filing cabinets full), I guess it will be ok, no b-i-g deal” followed by “However, since its hot and all I sure could use one of those covered parking spots”, all said with resignation and heavily augmented by several sighs.

Word of advice, don’t bet against me, I like to win, often leaving scorched earth and shattered dreams in my wake.

On My Flower:
Many of you have asked about the rumors that My Flower might be leaving me for more comfortable pastures. While she is still contemplating her decision to reunite with her first love, no decision as yet been made. Please note that I am not the kind of man to stand in the way of true love. I however, have been looking at moving into a converted shipping container in an industrial back lot, located in south-central Apache Junction, should this in fact come to pass; I am nothing if not a planner.

Todays Bill:
How poor are they who have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees.
William Shakespeare

Quote of the Day:
Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons. It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth. Walt Whitman, Song of the Open Road

I remain, much like a caustic chemical to the uninformed:

JQP esq.

Rainy days and Sundays get me down:

(Make your own caption day here at PTOAPM, make it good! Btw: if you know the movie you so f’ing rock!)

I had a post:
…but someone was using ninja mind reading skills and ruined it for me, suffice to say, now you will not know all about my years at sea.

J.Q. O'Public

Sand in my Metaphorical Shorts:

Thought of the Day:
For four-fifths of our history, our planet was populated by pond scum.
J. W. Schopf

On Reliable News Sources:
My top means of keeping my finger on the pulse of not only the nation but humanity at large: Soldier of Fortune, Readers Digest and Blogger. What more does a man of vision need.

On Work:
I have pulled something cool off with the Federal government and several unnamed agencies (suffice to say they go by the normal three capital letters). As a result I have been working on a fed-grant that is due Friday, which if you have ever written a federal grant you would understand that about a month is the right turn around time to complete one. The cool thing is if we get it, there is a lot of good that can be done for the great citizens of the American Southwest.

On Cross Cultural Communications:
Friday last my Flower and I were invited to a listen to a live band at an Indian Bar. We went and in doing so I learned a few things about the local Native American culture. They dance in a large circle to a band doing 70’s cover songs. I had lots of beer and shots bought for me. They don’t like white people generally and at their bars in particular. Lets just say it was an interesting evening. One thing I have noticed, is that in dangous places and events, I have gotten a lot better about leaving before I end up A) jailed B) in the hospital C) in a shallow grave, having coyotes dig for my bones out in the desert somewhere.

On Last Night:
Kevin the Cosmonaut took me out for a pre-birthday week dinner at a German restaurant in Mesa (which somehow supports several fine German establishments) who knew that Germans love the desert and large permanent RV parks that cater to those on a fixed income. The food was excellent, Pork Shank and Bavarian Semmelknödel. My tummy was happy and I made it home by 8:00 pm, sober. I had turned down his first offer of paying our way into a Asian health spa. Behold the power of old age and wisdom (that and a scary wife).

Today’s Bill:
"So wise so young, they say do never live long."
From King Richard III (III, i, 79)

Quote of the Day:
There is no nonsense so arrant that it cannot be made the creed of the vast majority by adequate governmental action.
Bertrand Russell

I remain the equivalent of the cable TV installment appointment of your teenage ambitions:

JQP esq.

Sunday at the Public Casa:

After the early Mass, my loving bride and I enjoyed a long leisurely meal of
French Press Coffee and Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice.
Warmed Fresh Bread (I made bread Saturday).

And this little gem:

Poached Eggs and Tomato on Potato Pancakes

1/2 cup chopped onion
1-1/2 cups coarsely grated, peeled baking potatoes (about 1 1/2 large potatoes)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 slices of lean bacon, chopped
4 large eggs
4 (1/4-inch thick) slices of tomatoes
Basil Hollandaise (see recipe below)
4 basil sprigs (garnish )

In a large bowl, combine the onion, grated potatoes, salt, pepper, and bacon. For each pancake, spread 1/2 cup of mixture on a hot oiled grill or skillet, keeping pancakes two inches apart. Cook over low heat, undisturbed, for 20 minutes. Increase heat to medium and cook the pancakes for an additional 5 to 10 minutes or until the undersides are browned. Turn the pancakes and cook them another 10 minutes. NOTE: The pancakes may be kept warm in a preheated 250° F oven for up to 30 minutes while you poach the eggs.

To poach eggs: Use a pan that is at least 3 inches deep so there is enough water to cover the eggs and they do not stick to the bottom of the pan. To prevent sticking, grease the pan with a little oil before filling with water. Bring the poaching liquid to a boil and then reduce to a simmer before adding the eggs (bubbles should not break the surface). Break each egg onto a saucer or into small cups or bowls. Slip eggs carefully into simmering water by lowering the lip of each egg-cup 1/2-inch below the surface of the water. Let the eggs flow out. Immediately cover with a lid and turn off the heat. Set a timer for exactly three minutes for medium-firm yolks. Adjust the time up or down for runnier or firmer yolks. Cook 3 to 5 minutes, depending on firmness desired. Remove from water with slotted spoon. Lift each perfectly poached egg from the water with a slotted spoon, but hold it over the skillet briefly to let any water clinging to the egg drain off. Drain well before serving.

To serve, arrange the potato pancakes on heated serving plates, top each one with a tomato slice, and then top each tomato with a hot poached egg. Spoon some of the Basil Hollandaise over the eggs. Garnish with the basil sprigs and serve.

Now a day of Mimosas, Sol and sunshine pool side…

JQP

Please Drink Responsibly:

Your Drinks for the Weekend:

Mojito de Public

1 1/2 oz white tequila
1/2 oz creme de cassis
2 lime wedges
12 fresh mint leaves
1 - 6 oz 7-Up® soda
Muddle sugar, mint and squeezed lime wedges in mixing tin until mixture smells like spearmint gum. Fill with ice, add tequila and cassis, shake until the tin is icy to the touch. Pour into a Collins glass, top with 7-up and garnish with a sugarcane stick (no kitchen should be without) and fresh mint. A few of these and you will want to swim to Cuba.

JQP’s Homemade Absinthe

1 pint Everclear
3 tsp crumbled wormwood
2 tsp crumbled anise seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
4 cardamom pods
1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp chopped angelica root
1 pinch of Allspice (I add it to everything)
Steep wormwood in vodka for 8 to 12 hours. Remove, add the rest and steep for one week. Try this is under your own risk, please note: I am told the blindness is only temporary. I might try to make this later this month.

Hail Britannia (it’s a long story):

JQP

Incense, Peppermints and Strawberry Wine:

(In adulthood Tiffany never understood her reoccurring dreams about the yellow bicycle trolls. Yes, I work in a growth industry.)

Thought of the Day:
Any great truth can -- and eventually will -- be expressed as a cliche -- a cliche is a sure and certain way to dilute an idea. For instance, my grandmother used to say, 'The black cat is always the last one off the fence.' I have no idea what she meant, but at one time, it was undoubtedly true. Solomon Short

Folding metal chairs are instrument of Torture:
My ass hurts from sitting in workshops all day. I am at a conference up on the north side of Phoenix the rest of the week. 44 miles away, and it took me two and a half hours to get there this morning, however only 50 minutes to get home. The plus side is the food at this place is kick ass, I ate 4 steaks and two baked potatoes for lunch. JQP loves him some free food.

The workshops are ok; I could have taught two of the four I went to. I felt sorry for the presenters, they had a few deer in the headlights moments in the question department. So I quit asking questions. When ever one does presentation, one must always be prepared for the long sharp knifes.

I haven’t been here long and I ran into several people I had met from different parts of the southwest, so at least I am getting around. They seem to like me, they really like me.

On Reminiscing:
I miss No Love Thursdays, need I say more?

On Other News:
My Flower has been having a shit few weeks at work with a problem employee. The hoops her employer is making her jump through fucking blow my mind. It is really a case of if she were treated like a man; no one would expect her to put up with this shit. Sexism is running rampant. She called me from a public payphone the other day, asking questions about automobile ignition triggering mechanisms and the chemical composition of Semtex.

Poor girl is on edge, just a bit, which of course friends and neighbors makes me on edge. A tornado doesn’t give a shit what is fucks-up if you know what I mean. Back to sleeping with one eye open. The things I do for her career, being the wonderful man that I am.

Today’s Bill:
"I go, and it is done; the bell invites me.
Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell
That summons thee to heaven or to hell."
Macbeth (II, i, 62-64)

My Reading for the four weeks:
http://www.amazon.com/Worst-Hard-Time-Survived-American/dp/061834697X
A book about the good old days, well worth the read if you live in the west.
http://www.amazon.com/Year-Merde-Stephen-Clarke/dp/1582345910
Funny shit about living with the French.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?isbn=0743226712
It had been on my book shelf to long, it had some good points and stuff I didn’t know.
http://www.amazon.com/Nathan-Bedford-Forrest-Search-Enigma/dp/1589804155
I am glad I never had to fight this fucker, a real life redneck badass and generally disagreeable fucker.
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/catalog/titledetail.cfm?titleNumber=681101
Speaking of disagreeable fuckers
http://www.amazon.com/Echo-Harry-Bosch-Michael-Connelly/dp/0316734950
I am currently reading this, Connelly is my secret read, I love chewing gum for the mind.

One of the things I always do when I go to other peoples houses I always look at what is on their book shelf (well, there and in their medicine cabinet and underwear drawer). You caqn tell a lot about a person by doing that. Makes me wonder what hypothesis someone would come up with after reading my blog.

Quote of the Day:
A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight.
Robertson Davies

I remain your idiot savant of good judgment and style tips:

JQP esq.

I live in a Hallmark Movie:

(That’s my boy)

Since my last posting I have been in Utah, New Mexico and all over Arizona, suffice to say none of the tourist spots. Local indigenous people find me a fine drinking companion. What can I say, starting a program from the ground-up can be both time consuming and taxing of the seemingly limitless pools of exceptional creativity I possess.

I spent a pleasant day yesterday with members of the US Attorneys Office and the FBI, pleasant in such that I was neither a suspect nor under charges. I then went to a bar down from the Federal building with a few of them and got shit faced drunk.

My Flower said the group of drinking companions that I would normally associate with in Indiana, South Carolina and various Indian Nations, to be much more desirable than this fine group. FYI the Feds dig cocktails.

I plead the 5th:

JQP esq

I'm love'n it: