Right to Work: Representation Without Taxation

 

During World War II my dad would take me along on Saturday's to the Union Hall somewhere in down town Seattle.  A bunch of people, mostly men, but sometimes a couple of gnarly old women, would sit around and tell horror stories of "how it used to be" back in the bad old days. 

The coffee was thick and black and the air was blue with cigarette smoke. 

My dad's older brother was born in 1900.  Dad said Bill would brag about how he went about finding work.  He said he would walk up to a construction job and ask for the boss.  When that fellow showed up Bill would point to one of the workers and ask, "What are you paying him?"  When he found out, he would tell the boss that he could do twice the work for less than he was paying the fellow. 

This is what we call, "Supply and Demand".  Currently we have this large pool of unemployed people. 

Once Unions have had their teeth pulled or been shut down, employers will offer jobs to the lowest bidder.  Make no mistake about it.  Except for the past 60 or 65 years, this was the working man's fate. 

Go back and read some of the novelists from the 19th and 20th centuries.  Start with Charles Dickens.  He paint vivid pictures of life among the lower classes in England.  Mark Twain gives us detailed scenes from the same time period on the American side.  Read O'Henry or John Steinbeck or...the list is overloaded with novels depicting the hard, bleak life of the majority of Americans. 

Enter Hollywood.  With the advent of the moving pictures film makers quickly moved away from recounting the grim side of life, and began to weave wonderful fantasy worlds of life among the rich.  For a period of time it seemed that all of America lived in fine mansions and drove fancy cars and had houses full of servants.  Movies became our escape from the harshness of the Great depression and then from the brutal World War. 

Escape from reality seems to have become our passion.  Stop for a moment and count all of the ways Americans have at their disposal for avoiding their dreary, mundane lives. 

Well my friends, good news for those who long to return to the "good old days".  We're headed smack dab down that road. 

Think of that wonderful world where we can once again put in an honest 6 day, twelve hour day.  And our children will be allowed to work, too! 

Wives can take in laundry and do mending to pull enough extra money for such luxuries as fruit and shoes. 

We won't be bothered by too much TV or radio, because with the big crash we won't be buying much of the stuff currently being hawked over the airwaves.  Internet will be too costly and too closely monitored to be of any use to us.  Movies and sporting events will be priced out of our pocket books, and probably most of them will shut down.  If we're lucky enough to live in towns where electric trolleys run, we can get to town.  Otherwise we'll need to wait for the green grocers and the bread and meat wagons to pass through our neighborhoods.  With gas going through the ceiling we will not be driving much and airlines will shut down for lack of business.  Maybe we can plow up the airports for farms. 

Anyway, enough of this rant. 

 

Curious Carl

 

thoughts on collective bargaining

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Carl Jarvis

To: blind-democracy@octothorp.org

Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2011 9:32 AM

Subject: thoughts on collective bargaining

Triangle Fire On PBS

100 Years is Too Soon to Forget Watch Monday, Feb. 28 at 9pm!
www.pbs.org

 

100 years ago the working conditions in the Triangle Factory were common.  It was not the kindness and generosity of factory owners that brought about better working conditions.  It was the oppressed workers.  We blind people should know better than to think that the authorities and sheltered shop owners are going to greet us in the morning with the good news that they are cleaning up our sweat shops and hiking our pay and adding all sorts of fringe benefits such as retirement, health coverage, paid vacation  and sick leave. 

The Seattle Lighthouse has come a long way from its days as a broom shop down on Elliot Avenue.  But improvements did not start at the top.  It was pressure from the workers and from the organized blind that has resulted in a work place that provides decent, respectible employment to blind men and women. 

 

Remember, our history books only taught us about the successful captains of industry, the great military battles and our national growth as an Empire.  Looking below the surface would show us that until the Second World War, the majority of Americans struggled to make a bare living.  By the War many working class and middle class families had a car, usually used, a radio, a four party telephone line and at least an ice box.  Many Americans did not have inside running water, or toilets, or washing machines.  Wood or coal stoves provided most folks with their heat.  Single pane windows and no insulation in the walls or ceilings made homes drafty in cool climates and unbearable in the South. 

Do we really want to return to bare bone conditions? 

It was the labor unions which brought the Middle Class into prominence.  Better wages and shorter hours gave folks the ability to not only buy previously considered luxury items, but also the time to enjoy them.  Increased wages created new businesses, which in turn created new jobs.  It was not Corporate America that created the jobs or the wealth.  Corporate America profited from our ingenuity and labor, giving only what they were forced to give and taking greedily wherever they could. 

America was at her greatest when the unions were vigorous and healthy. 

But the hard won balance of power is changing quickly. 

This does not bode well for Blind Americans.  Despite our hassles with some unions, overall it has been organized labor which created conditions allowing blind people to enter into the job market.  Once the control is again in the hands of Corporate America, we will find ourselves at the bottom of the labor pool, if we are even in the pool. 

We really need to pause and consider just where we place our loyalties. 

 

Curious Carl

*************
Too long have the workers of the world waited for some Moses to lead them out of bondage. I would not lead you out if I could; for if you could be led out, you could be led back again. I would have you make up your minds there is nothing that you cannot do for yourselves. --Eugene Victor Debs
1855-1926

twisting the facts to fit our beliefs

Twisting the Facts to Fit our Beliefs.

 

My grandmother Jarvis was an Abraham Lincoln Republican.  She could never be convinced that times had changed and so had the Grand Old Party. 

Grandma had worked hard all of her life and was proud of her contributions.  But she was born in 1874 and by the time social security came around she was never covered.  She lived her retirement years receiving an Old Age Pension.  It was a disgustingly pitiful dribble of money and my dad and his sister constantly slid her money under the table, since any monetary gift would be deducted from her monthly stipend.  But Grandma voted for Hoover and Wilke and Dewey.  She always voted against social legislation, but she lived in subsidized housing with her heat and electricity furnished by the tax payers. 

Grandma developed cataracts and Macular Degeneration in her later years.  The cataracts were removed at taxpayers expense and her treatments, such as they were in the 50's, were also free to her. 

Grandma never questioned this.  After all, it was her due. 

You see, grandma found the facts that supported her beliefs.  And she rejected the facts that might have proven her beliefs wrong. 

But this is not behavior that is limited to folks of the conservative persuasion. 

I have been known to twist a fact or two to make them fit my own Radical beliefs.  But of course I have the Truth Everlasting, so it's okay for me. 

 

Curious Carl

America for all; even the blind

 

Of course, unions are no different than corporations.  There are good and bad among both.  And there are good people and bad people in both.  But I have two thoughts. 

First, Corporations unite together to defend their self interests.  Workers need to have that right, too.  Voluntary union membership puts workers at a disadvantage, allowing the employer to be divisive. 

Second, why is it that the working/middle class must suck it up and make all of the sacrifices?  The Upper Class has been given a free pass.  They are not losing their jobs.  They are not having their homes foreclosed.   They are not finding that the cannot pay their college ransom because they can't find work.  They are not forced to go into the military service to keep from becoming a street bum. 

Why are we living in a two tiered nation? 

America must be America the Beautiful to All citizens, including us blind folks. 

 

Curious Carl

Remember Jim Jones?

Looking at the mess Governor Scott Walker has gotten his state in, causes me to ponder the following"

 

We can, and will debate the value of unions and of open and closed shops, until the cows come home.  It's an exercise well worth doing. 

But there is an important lesson here, for us, as members of the American Council of the Blind. 

Our organization, like unions and like nations, depend upon involved, educated members, if that body is going to fairly represent its members.  When members of any organization become disinterested or lax, a vacuum occurs.  Corruption nearly always fills the void.  Remember, Greed is not unique to the Empire Builders alone.  Power and control can be hypnotic most anywhere.  While we think of the likes of Dave Beck and his Sweetheart Contracts, and the mob controlled Longshoremen unions, remember a fellow named Jim Jones?  When people give away their power and allow others to think for them, corruption results. 

 

Curious Carl

 

More on collective bargaining

 

When I worked for the state I belonged to the employees union.  Many of my co-workers scoffed, calling the union weak and ineffective.  But they never went to union meetings, never protested what the union did or did not do.  Membership was optional and so many chose to not join, making the union even weaker.  Until I moved into management and was not allowed to vote as a union member, I belonged and went to meetings.  Did I make a difference?  Probably not.  But I knew from experience what not participating would do. 

I worked for 8 years at a drapery factory in Seattle.  No union.  You want to talk about intimidation

120 employees, mostly women, working for low wages in unsafe conditions.  Afraid to report what went on for fear of being locked out.  When several of us attempted to organize the factory(yes, I was a radical even back then), we learned what real power was all about.  Even the National Labor Relations Board(NLRB), which we thought was there to protect workers, turned on us.  We were soundly beaten, a long but interesting story. 

But the point is, the real power is not in the unions hands.  It never was, despite the protestations of Corporate America. 

 

Curious Carl

 

a note to a confused friend

Dear Friend,

Remember, while the unions were fighting for the 8 hour day, and child labor laws, and safe working conditions, and pensions, and health benefits, while all this was going on the nation's industrial might was at its peak.  Factories buzzed, American made products were sold around the globe.  Money flowed up to the bank accounts of the rich, making them even wealthier. 

It was not union greed that turned the economy around. 

Our great nation has forsaken Americans in favor of Empire building.  We are being drained in order to support this huge military burden.  Our factories are going overseas because we are paying to protect them in cheap labor markets.  That will not last for long.  But in all of this, we blind people, along with all disabled folks, are paying a far greater portion of the price.  Your situation is typical for many of us.  You have worked for years at a fairly low paying job and now face living your retirement at or below the poverty line.  Some reward for your labor.  But rather than pointing a complaining finger at the little success gained by unions, we need to redouble our efforts to organize blind people and become a force to be reckoned with. 

 

Curious Carl

 

 

The Boeing Fairy Tale

The Boeing Fairy Tale.

 

The citizens of Washington State, especially Greater Seattle, gave the Boeing company one tax break after another.  They paid for water, sewer, power, access roads and many other support systems that benefitted Boeing over the local neighborhoods.  But we were told over and over, until we believed it, that as Boeing prospered, so did Washington state.  We put up with congestion and noise pollution, because we knew there were thousands of men and women making a decent living.  The trade off seemed tolerable.  But Boeing kept pressing for more and more favors until finally the region could not be squeezed any longer.  How did good old Boeing handle this?  Well they just picked up their corporate offices and moved to Chicago, where we can only imagine what kind of a deal they made. 

All these years folks around here talked about needing to be loyal to Boeing because of all they did for us.  But when the shoe was on the other foot, Boeing did not feel any sense of loyalty to the Pacific Northwest.  We had been deceived by our own Fairy Tales. 

 

Curious Carl

 

collective bargaining

 

Paul. 

I am nailing your message to my front door even as we speak.  too bad nobody ever comes to my front door. 

But seriously, I hope folks read your thoughts carefully and we can get into a healthy discussion on where we, the American Council of the Blind(ACB) direct our efforts. 

 

Curious Carl

 

Subject: Re: [acb-l] collective bargaining

Some on this thread have recognized that what happens to unions is relevant to what happens to the ACB. At the heart of the matter, we are not discussing wages or working conditions.  We are discussing whether our governments should have the right to restrain any group from exercising their legal rights.  Essentially, the governor of Wisconsin has said publicly that workers who strike can and should be fired.  People who want less government often want government to take steps to govern the behavior of those who would oppose the government.

 

We live in a time when the power of trade unions is declining.  The Auto Workers, Air Line Unions and others have agreed to contracts that took benefits and wages away from members.  If we oppose restraint of trade, why do we not equally oppose artificial restraints of the negotiating process by government use of arbitrary executive power.

 

I worry about our future. I am a manager; I have been a union steward; I have and continue to decry union failure to work affirmatively to help people with disabilities get work; employers are not doing much better.  I guess the point I really want to make here is that our history is full of people fighting for the right to do better.  ACB is all about that.  We do not need to go back to a time when government used its power arbitrarily or politically to attempt to "break" unions. Employment at will, industry upon industry with no unions any more, and the highest unemployment rate in generations. Blind people are not finding jobs because we have managed to alienate both sides.  Neither labor nor management love us.  At some point, we must determine what we as the ACB are going to do about this.  Burying our heads in the sand does not seem to me to be a good solution.

 

Paul

 

Where is that rabbit hole?

Where is that rabbit hole? 

 

Don't we all live in Wonderland?  We invented money.  We invented clothes.  We invented houses.  We invented credit.  We invented profit. 

We no longer are part of the planet Earth.  We live on it, not with it.  We take but we do not give.  We behave as if this life that we invented will go on forever. 

Now if that's not living in Wonderland I don't know what is. 

 

Curious Carl

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Claude Everett

To: 'Blind Democracy Discussion List'

Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 6:15 AM

Subject: RE: This Might Get Interesting

there is an alternate reality for some it is called fantasy.

 

Regards,
Claude Everett

A Leftie, born and bred

A Leftie, born and bred

 

I want to say a word or two about my being a "Leftie". 

Besides being born left handed, I was given by the Stork to a Working Class family.  Oh, I'd begged to be dropped down the chimney of Bill Boeing Jr's home, but we flew right on over to Spokane and I was plunked down on the back porch of a little shack out in the West Valley. 

Growing up poor and living in an up scale neighborhood in Seattle, I could understand why my school chums thought Tom Dewey was the man of the hour.  He stood for all that their families held near and dear.  

But what I couldn't understand was why the poor folks became so fiercely protective of the rights of the rich to steal from the poor.  Many of them worked long hard hours for very little pay.  But when I would go around passing out the Progressive(Communist) literature that my dad handed me, I had people scream obscenities in my little skinny, frightened face and slam the door, after ripping up the flyer. 

Here they were, living in dumps, telling me that I was a threat to their American Way of Life. 

Why couldn't they see what I saw?  I could look up at the top of the hill and then back to their crumbling neighborhood and I could see the difference.  They were not enjoying the fruits of their labor.  They were not living the American Dream.  But the folks high on the hill were.  And it didn't take me many years to figure out just where they were getting their money from. 

I suppose that if I'd been born to Bill Boeing Junior, like I'd wanted, I'd be a strong supporter of the Ruling Class, because they would have been my people. 

But I'm always going to be the son of a working man, and always make my choices based on what is good for working men and women. 

 

Curious Carl

 

"Use Live Ammunition" Against Wisc. Protesters???

Subject: Re: "Use Live Ammunition" Against Wisconsin Protesters???

Question: Can you say Terrorist in two words? 

Answer: Jeff Cox. 

Anyone advocating that the Loyal Opposition be shot to death is a Terrorist. 

Even if we all went like lambs to the slaughter, Jeff Cox would find fault with our pathetic bleating as the hammer fell. 

 

Curious Carl

 

Subject: "Use Live Ammunition" Against Wisc. Protesters???


>A Message from People For the American Way
>
> =====================================
>
>
> Dear Friends,
>
> A deputy attorney general in Indiana on Saturday suggested on Twitter
> to "use live ammunition" against protesters in Madison, Wisconsin. In
> a back-and-forth with a writer for Mother Jones magazine, he followed
> up, "You're damned right I advocate deadly force."
>
> There's one word for this: Unacceptable.
>
> Sign our petition calling for the immediate resignation of Indiana
> Deputy Attorney General Jeff Cox.
> http://site.pfaw.org/site/R?i=TSoaKtOS5_yqDdiBDmw-5w..
>
> The fact that a public official is comfortable calling for the
> shooting of peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment
> rights is terrifying. Unfortunately, it's not surprising since the
> political Right has moved so far away from supporting democratic
> norms.
>
> The right-wing movement -- from its politicians to its media outlets
> -- has taken sides against the working people of Wisconsin and is
> trying to paint peaceful protesters and unions as "thugs." In doing
> so, they are aligning themselves with some of American history's worst
> villains -- the politicians and robber barons of the late 1800's and
> early 1900s who would call in private security firms and militias to
> break union strikes and intimidate workers with outright violence, and
> sometimes mass murder.
>
> We remember the violent actions and rhetoric of some of the Tea Party
> congressional candidates in 2010 -- Sharron Angle with her "Second
> Amendment remedies," Joe Miller with his private security guards who
> roughed up and illegally detained a reporter. Now we're faced with
> public officials who are falsely trying to portray public workers who
> are under attack and their supporters as violent ... and advocating
> real violence against them just for standing up for their basic
> rights!
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> AG Greg Zoeller to immediately demand Deputy Attorney General Jeff
> Cox's resignation and address calls for violence within the AG's
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collective bargaining: it cuts both ways

 

collective bargaining: it cuts both ways

 

I hope folks are shining up their marching boots.  We absolutely must fight to force our employers to keep their end of the bargain.  We kept ours. 

I worked for the state for 17 years and fulfilled my contractual agreement, signing off on salary and benefits.  There's no way I can go back and say, "You should have paid me better for all those years.  I demand a retroactive raise".  Yet, this is what some state politicians are wanting to do.  "We agreed to pay you X dollars in retirement benefits as part of your labor. But now we see that this is just too much, so we are going back on our end of the deal.  Too bad." 

Like I say, if they can go back, so can we. 

 

Curious Carl

----- Original Message -----

From: Baracco, Andrew W

To: acb-l@acb.org

Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 11:44 AM

Subject: Re: [acb-l] collective bargaining

Actually, now he wants to change the teachers retirement system, and the changes he proposes would affect current as well as future retirees.  This is what's scary.  You work all of your life, and pay into a pension fund and are promised a benefit level.  You plan your whole life with that benefit level in mind, and then you find that you will only get half of that benefit, or none at all.  Then what's left?  Trying to get a job at age 75.?  Maybe Wal-Mart will hire you as a greeter.

 

Andy

 

 

From: acb-l-bounces@acb.org [mailto:acb-l-bounces@acb.org] On Behalf Of Abby Vincent
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 10:02 AM
To: 'Ray Campbell'; acb-l@acb.org
Subject: Re: [acb-l] collective bargaining

 

We very well may be at a crossroads.  In California, we have a governor who, in his previous term in office, supported the right of government workers to have unions.  Now he's back in office, trying to be honest with the voters about the financial hole we're all in.  Most of it is a revenue problem.  The recession hit us hard, so there's less income tax, less property tax, less sales tax being generated.  We just might find a way to revitalize the economy and balance the budget without leaving major players with little or no say in their future.  Either that, or we become a protectorate and let the rest of the country assume our debts.

Abby

 

From: Ray Campbell [mailto:ray1530@wowway.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 9:15 PM
To: 'Abby Vincent'; acb-l@acb.org
Subject: RE: [acb-l] collective bargaining

 

Hi Abby:

 

I'm not saying I believe this argument, but the argument as it goes from those supporting what Wisconsin Governor Walker is doing goes something like, we have to place curbs on collective bargaining because it's through collective bargaining that state workers have gotten the sweet benefit packages which are unaffordable.

 

I'll be curious when this bill passes in Wisconsin if it holds up against Federal labor law.  It is very extreme.  I think we're at a crossroads in our nation's history when it comes to unions, and how this is ultimately decided is going to change the relationship between Those who employ Government workers and the workers themselves forever.

 

 

Ray Campbell

ray1530@wowway.com

 

Check out my blog: packerbackerray.blogspot.com

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/packerbackerray

 

 

 

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transformed

Transformed.  That brings us back to most religions.  We shall be Transformed.  Well I should hope so.  I'd hate to arrive in the Hereafter and find some of my dear family waiting for me.  Waiting to pick right up where they left off, talking over one another, getting in their little digs, putting one another down in cute little ways.  And what about those rich kids I grew up near.  I'd say I grew up with them, but they would never have allowed that to happen.  Would I have to sit around and hear about their really successful lives?  And my grandmother Jarvis, who believed without a doubt that she was headed straight for Heaven, but the Colored Folk would have to "stay in their own place". 

Man, I sure do hope that there's an Agnostic Land.  We wouldn't keep anybody out, but they'd have to leave their prejudices at the door, including their narrow minds.  Oh what fun we'd have sitting around all day trying to figure out what it is that we're trying to figure out.  And then we'd end each day with a big clam bake...or weenie roast...or marshmallow toast...or maybe just a couple of glasses of rum and Coke. 

Carl Jarvis

 

the honest to goodness real first class Americans

Here in Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire wept as she said, "I never believed that I would be presenting such a budget". 

But she did.  Our politicians have blinders on and all they are allowed to see, in considering cuts,  are the services being provided to the Working/Middle Class and the poor(which includes many of the afore mentioned). 

We continue to hold the Ruling Class harmless.  They truly are the American People.  The rest of us are one of the "natural resources". 

 

Curious Carl

 

The Art of Accepting Help

 

  The Art of Accepting Help 

 

By

Carl Jarvis

 

Mary Williams has been helping others since 1931.  That was the year Mary turned ten years old and her mother was killed by a runaway milk truck.  With six younger brothers and sisters needing care, Mary took over as the house mother, fixing meals, washing the family laundry, making sure Sunday night baths were taken and all prayers were properly said.  Back in those days she was Mary Olsen, and her father was known as Oley Olsen to his co-workers at the pulp mill where he worked as the company Black Smith.  He worked long, hard hours to support his large family.  Mary stepped into her mother's shoes and for the next twenty years her life was dedicated to caring for her family.  As the younger children grew and took on a share of the chores, Mary found time to fulfill a secret dream.  Mary wanted more than anything else in the world to complete her schooling.  And so it was that when the 1951 Lincoln High Seniors received their graduation diplomas, 30 year old Mary Olsen marched proudly across the platform with them. 

Her new dream was to become an English teacher.  But she took a year off to become Missus Robert Williams and bring Robert Williams Junior into the world.  Then in 1952 she entered the University of Washington.  Her years of doing for others held her in good stead.  She cared for her husband and her baby son and after four years graduated tenth in her class.  Her dream of teaching came true when she was offered a position with Bremerton High School as an English Teacher.  Her husband Bob had been working as a machinist at Boeing and he had no problem catching on with the Navy Ship Yard.  This was 1956.  The couple had just the one son, although both had believed they'd have a dozen.  It didn't stop them.  They took in foster children and Bob became a scout master while Mary taught Sunday school.  Children were the center of their lives. 

Life was busy and sweet for many years, filled with noisy giggly children of all ages.  Then in 1970, Bob Junior joined the Marines and was quickly shipped out for Viet Nam.  He was a Lance Corporal.  "It was November 2," Mary recalled.  "The darkest, longest day of my life."  They told Mary and Bob that Bob Junior had been a real hero, saving several other young men by throwing himself on the explosive device.  Mary said that Bob was never the same after that.  He dropped all of his youth activities.  His first heart attack came one year almost to the day that Bob Junior had been killed.  Mary's father had died several years earlier but Bob's folks were both living and in very poor health.  They moved his parents into Bob Junior's old room and once again Mary became the house mother, caring for Bob and his parents, while continuing to teach.  Bob never worked again.  After his second heart attack he was bed ridden, barely able to care for his most basic needs. 

Bob and his parents died within a year of each other.  By 1976 Mary was alone for the first time in her life.  "My work kept my head together," she told us.  And as time passed Mary became active again in her church.  But not with the children.  Mary continued doing what she did best.  She looked in on the lonely shut-ins, bringing a pot pie or a big cauldron of soup or some tasty cookies.  She would sit and read folks mail to them, read stories, gossip about things going on at church, and just shed a bit of joy and sunshine as she came and went. 

Mary retired from teaching in 1986, but she continued her visitations for some years, and would have continued except she developed Macular Degeneration and by 75 she could no longer drive.  But Mary never thought of herself as blind or in need of help.  For fifteen years she continued on, keeping her home and yard neat and cheery.  Her life centered around her church, which she could walk to.  Gathering a few older ladies together, Mary began holding mid-week Bible studies in her home.  She always had a fresh pot of coffee, another of tea and a pile of warm, freshly baked cookies on hand.  Most likely Mary would still be throwing her door open to her lady friends except that for her 90^th birthday she fell and broke her hip.  "I thought I'd just heal up and get right back to my regular routine", she told us.  But the weeks dragged into months, and the pesky hip did not want to heal properly.  Even then we would have never met Mary.  She had never thought of herself needing help because of her blindness.  "I can still see", she told us after her home nurse had called us in.  "I just can't tell who you are.  Your face is a blur." 

It became quickly apparent that Mary had no adjustment issues to deal with.  Not so far as her vision loss was concerned.  "What's getting me down is not being able to get up", she said with a soft laugh.  "I have my talking books and now my lady friends bring me the containers of soup and cookies."  Her eyes went sad and her voice softened to a whisper.  "You know, it's so very hard having to accept help from others when you've been the helper all your life". 

We reached out and held both of Mary's hands, "You have just put your finger on the greatest challenge confronting older people", we said.  "But perhaps it would help to look at it from a different angle.  Rather than thinking of yourself as needing help, think of yourself as a partner with your care givers.  You have needs to be met.  Work together to find solutions.  Don't become passive and allow others to tell you what they will do for you.  You are your own boss until your last breath.  Because your health has failed, others will think of you as needy and helpless.  You must not allow them to think that.  Tell them you are a team and if they don't want to be a team player they can go somewhere else." 

Mary was quiet for a long time.  Finally she smiled and looked up.  "I gotcha.  I am my own boss." 

When we came to see Mary again we found her sitting in a wheelchair.  "We figured out how I can get myself into this chair and now I can once again wander about my house", she beamed, happily clapping her hands.  "We are a team." 

And her care giver nodded her head, "And you are the play maker, Mary", she said, smiling. 

We never saw Mary again.  Just one month after her 91^st birthday we received a call from her care giver.  "I thought you would want to know," she said, and we could feel it coming, "Mary had a massive stroke and died yesterday."  We whispered, "Thank you for thinking of us", and sat a long time with tears on our cheeks and that choked up feeling in our throats.  It is so very hard.  Losing friends.  But then Mary's laughing voice rang out loud and clear, "I really am my own boss again!" 

 

 

Comic Relief: Sarah Palin on Egypt

    Okay, reading Sarah Palin's "thoughts" on Egypt sort of picked me up for the day.  In fact, I think I'll go organize an anti stupid rally in Quilcene. 

Trouble is folks call our Quilcene citizens, "Quilbillies". 

Mostly unemployed loggers and Hunters and Gatherers.  Thank goodness Sarah Palin is not a man...is she?...or they'd vote for her for sure.  In fact, if she learns to spit tobacco juice ten feet they'll go for her anyway. 

 

Curious Carl

 

 

Sarah Palin on Egypt
Robert Dreyfuss | February 6, 2011
Sarah Palin, in her first comments on Egypt, managed to make no sense at
all. None. I especially liked her "not, not real enthused about what it is
that that's being done [in DC]." Here's the full quote, which sounds like it
was written by Miss South Carolina, speaking for all "US Americans":

"And nobody yet has, nobody yet has explained to the American public what
they know, and surely they know more than the rest of us know who it is who
will be taking the place of Mubarak and no, not, not real enthused about
what it is that that's being done on a national level and from DC in regards
to understanding all the situation there in Egypt. And, in these areas that
are so volatile right now, because obviously it's not just Egypt but the
other countries too where we are seeing uprisings, we know that now more
than ever, we need strength and sound mind there in the White House. We need
to know what it is that America stands for so we know who it is that America
will stand with. And, we do not have all that information yet."


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Source URL:
http://www.thenation.com/blog/158333/comic-relief-sarah-palin-egyp

MacDonald's hash browns, sure cure for constipation

Well, I bitch about today's super highways but then go rushing out to use them almost on a daily basis.  We cover four large counties and if it were not for the state and federal roads, we'd still be out after midnight. 

Of course one simple solution would be to put up enough funding to have more rehab teachers in the field, like one per county.  Fat chance of that ever happening! 

But speaking of the change in food sold along the highways and byways

, when I was young there was no such thing as "Fast Food".  All food was local and slow.  You went in and sat down and waited.  And waited.  I think that's why they became known as waiters because they kept you waiting. 

But food was more wholesome and the grease was fresh...mostly. 

The other day we were on an early morning mercy run to my mother-in-law's home, about 120 miles away.  We popped into a MacDonald's and grabbed a couple of those Biscuit with Cheese and Egg and a cup of coffee.  "Would you like the Meal Deal?"  the young woman asked.  "Sure", I said before I thought.  The "Meal Deal" just added to our order a little baggie of hard, super greasy stuff they call Hash Browns.  Whatever you do, do not ever order the "Meal Deal".  And if, by some chance you do, do not ever eat that hard, super greasy, mass of reconstituted mulch that they call Hash Browns.  Unless you've been constipated for some time. 

 

Curious Carl

 

my hardest task is begging

My hardest task is begging.

 

The hardest task for me is to go to my representatives and beg for our funding not to be cut, knowing that if my wish is granted it means someone else's program will suffer. 

The one thing that really starts me roaring, much to Cathy's chagrin, is when I hear that we must all sacrifice, and I know that a portion of our American People are held harmless and will never suffer one single moment.  A few days ago we sat with a woman who wept as she told us that her rent was going up and her grant was being cut.  Last month she only had forty dollars to spend on her personal needs.  This includes her bus pass, her tooth paste, her personal hygiene items, her clothes, and her telephone.  Forget any entertainment or hobbies.  She steals toilet paper from the building's public restrooms to save a few dollars.  When they rescued her from her last apartment and moved her into this assisted living facility, she was skin and bones.  At least she is eating regularly and beginning to take an interest in life once more.  But now she has a new problem.  Her old clothes don't fit.  She is not fat, make no mistake about that, but going from skin and bones to some flesh means buttons don't meet.  If this woman was a rare encounter it would be sad.  But we see this over and over.  Folks in their 90's scared because their money is about to run out and they have no idea what they'll do.  What a Hell of a way to end their lives.  So many of them were the backbone of this nation during our darkest times.  And we repay them by kicking them to the curb. 

So excuse me for getting worked up over the Ruling Classes "Free Pass" while really decent, fine people are ignored. 

 

Curious Carl

 

Super Highways? or, Super Mess?

I still maintain that those super highways were a major player in the current mess we are in.  We've sprawled out over the countryside, building housing developments, industrial parks and shopping malls on lush farm land, connecting it all with freeways. 

But don't anyone worry about a solution to this unrestrained expansion.  Conditions are changing faster than we care to believe.  Our problems will take care of themselves.  We probably won't like the solutions, but we'll have no control over them. 

 

Curious Carl

So much that goes wrong in our world just sort of sneaks up on us

So much that goes wrong in our world just sort of sneaks up on us.  And super freeways are among them. 

Two memories of mine were, 1. small towns suddenly found themselves cut in half by the new super highway and many farmers had to travel far out of their way to get under or over the highway to work their fields on the far side. 

2. some towns found that the freeways passed some distance beyond their city limits, thus discouraging folks from driving into town, and building sub towns just off the highways, ultimately becoming large shopping malls and ruining the city center shopping districts. 

And yes, we sure can get there faster today.  Cathy and I are on the highways daily.  She drives within 5 miles of the speed limit and we are most always being left in the dust by impatient drivers who often flip her off for holding them up.  Boy, are we in a hurry to get there.  I can hardly wait for one of those new Transporters where you just step on and are reassembled on Mars...or wherever.  Poof! 

Does anyone else think that we are worshipping at the feet of the Speed Idol?  How in the world did our civilization get anywhere back before computers, jet planes, super highways, etc.? 

Does anyone besides me think that these super freeways may be the roads paved with good intentions?  And that we're all going to Hell in a hand basket? 

 

Curious Carl

 

packing out the old Hudson

 

Packing out the old Hudson. 

 

In the 1940's my folks would pack out the old Hudson the night before and dad would announce, "We're leaving at 4:00 A.M.!"  Well, that never happened but we would be up before dawn to dress and eat breakfast.  We would leave Queen Ann Hill in Seattle somewhere around 6 or 7 in the morning and drive around Lake Washington because my dad refused to pay the ten cent toll on the brand new floating bridge.  We picked up highway 10 and worked our way East, over the Cascades and through the hot central plains of Washington, over the mighty Columbia River, going through every town along the way at  25 miles per hour.  Highway speeds were 50 mph and trucks were to drive at 40 mph.  Stopping along the way to eat our picnic lunch, we would make it to the grand folks in Spokane valley by around 5 or 6 PM.  At least a 10 hour trip. 

Today, driving I-90, the drive can be made in under 5 hours.  And what is the price for all this time saved?  It's the loss of knowing our beautiful state. 

 

Curious Carl

 

 

Fw: an addition to what I've been writing about change we needgoing along with the brain washing

What is most troubling to me is the fact that so many Americans go along with the Brain Washing via the Mass Media.  I mean, here we blind people are, struggling to achieve First Class Status while all around us people are accepting the idea that the Ruling Class is entitled to a better standard of living than everyone else.  The message is loud and clear.  We elect people to congress and as soon as they get there they turn on us.  Our elected officials do not believe that we are on the same level as the members of the Ruling Class.  We Working/Middle Class folks must sacrifice our hard earned social services.  Why?  So the Ruling Class will not have to suffer one bit.  Our children must receive less education, poor diets, live in frightening neighborhoods, our elderly forced to live in poverty with no or minimal health care, our youth blown to pieces in defense of our Freedom.  Whose Freedom?  Why the Freedom of the Ruling Class.  They are kept safe and secure by our sacrifices.  And what are they doing in return?  Sending our money to off-shore banks, moving their factories and our jobs overseas, jacking up prices on health care and energy and food. 

Doesn't it seem like something's wrong with this picture? 

 

Curious Carl

 

Sarah Palin on Egypt

It's not often that I find someone who makes worse sense than I do.  Following is my vote for, 2011 Queen of the Trailer Park". 

Sarah Palin on Egypt
Robert Dreyfuss | February 6, 2011
Sarah Palin, in her first comments on Egypt, managed to make no sense at
all. None. I especially liked her "not, not real enthused about what it is
that that's being done [in DC]." Here's the full quote, which sounds like it
was written by Miss South Carolina, speaking for all "US Americans":

"And nobody yet has, nobody yet has explained to the American public what
they know, and surely they know more than the rest of us know who it is who
will be taking the place of Mubarak and no, not, not real enthused about
what it is that that's being done on a national level and from DC in regards
to understanding all the situation there in Egypt. And, in these areas that
are so volatile right now, because obviously it's not just Egypt but the
other countries too where we are seeing uprisings, we know that now more
than ever, we need strength and sound mind there in the White House. We need
to know what it is that America stands for so we know who it is that America
will stand with. And, we do not have all that information yet."


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

Source URL:
http://www.thenation.com/blog/158333/comic-relief-sarah-palin-egyp

Curious Carl

super highways: Ike's dream? or America's curse?

Many great ideas don't look so hot in retrospect. 

Ike's plan for a nation of super highways looked really good to the automotive industry and the oil tycoons, but it has turned out to be a curse for the majority of Americans. 

Even in 1952, the great iron highways built by American taxpayers and Chinese slave labor were falling into disrepair.  For years the railroads used their free roads, built on land that had been handed over to them by our congress, you know, the folks we put into office to look out for our interests? 

But these roads were beginning to need expensive maintenence and the corporate owners had better plans for the money they had squeezed from the farmers and shippers of goods.  But we were in the year 1952, the year we planned to put a TV in every living room, and a car in every garage.  And when we had done that, we would build two car garages and family rooms and vacation homes and we would haul huge travel trailers behind our one ton pickups. 

The age of the gasoline engine.  Every man should have at least five noisy gas engines at his finger tips. 

Had Ike pushed to repair and expand our rail system we would be living in more people friendly towns today. 

Far less polution, mass transit, far less congestion on city streets.  No suburban sprawl.  No one hour bumper to bumper commutes to the job each day.  High speed rail would cut down on the need for air travel between regional cities. 

Roads would still wander through towns and wind through mountains and forest land. 

 

And we would all be happier. 

Except for GM and BP. 

Curious Carl

 

let's quit glamorizing our past

We tend to glamorize our early days as a nation, and even before.  But we have always had "The Man" with his boot on our throat and the sting of his whip on our backs.  But during that briefest of brief period of less than fifty years, we had a prospering Working/Middle Class.  We look upon those Golden Years as the norm, forgetting how most of our national history really was.  How many on this list grew up in a Company Town?  How many worked in the garment factories at the age of 9 or 10?  How many of us crawled into the bucket to be lowered into the mine in the dark of early morning and never come out until the dark of night...six days a week. 

How many picked crops from dawn to dusk and slept in a drafty shack on a hard board bunk? 

And how many blind folks remember the days when our lot in life was the Poor Farm or the Loony Bin? 

And that's only our White brothers and sisters.  The lot for our Colored brothers and sisters was far, far worse. 

We just can't seem to accept the fact that the Ruling Class views us as a natural resource.  During World War II and for a period of years following, the Working/Middle Class prospered.  They fattened savings accounts, purchased homes and recreational property and invested their money in stocks and bonds. 

As this natural resource grew fat and contented, the Ruling Class grew restless and greedy.  Finally they could wait no longer.  The harvest began.  Now the Working/Middle Class lies in shambles.  Just as they did when they clear cut the forests and over fished the rivers and oceans, and force planted the fields, the Ruling Class has done nothing to rebuild.  Greed is a destroyer, a taker. 

But unlike the Forests and the Oceans and the Fields, we can do something about this rape that has befallen the Working/Middle Class.  We can rise up, self start, and take back that which was rightfully ours to begin with. 

 

Curious Carl

 

Pet Peeve

Pet Peeve

 

I think that there's nothing more subversive than free advertising by a company.  Like buying a 30 thousand dollar car and having the make of the car in raised shiny letters.  Or the dealer where you bought the car puts on their own license plate holder with the name of the dealership on it.  Or the tires with the manufacturers name.  In fact, most everything you buy has a name boldly displayed, telling all and asundrey that you are the proud owner of their product. 

And no one ever challenges this free advertising.  Well, almost no one. 

The last new car my dad bought, come to think of it, the only new car my dad bought, had license plate holders proudly naming the dealership. 

"What's that?" dad asked. 

"What's what", the puzzled fellow echoed. 

"That advertising around my license plates", dad demanded. 

"Well, that just shows folks where you bought your car."  the salesman replied with a big smile.  "We like to get the word out." 

"How much are you going to pay me to advertise your company," dad demanded. 

"Pay?  We don't pay.  Besides, you need to have a license plate holder." 

"If you don't pay, then put the original holders back on.  I'm not going to pay you for the car and then provide you free advertising, too." 

And so it came to pass that my dad's brand new car proudly announced in raised silver script, "Buick Super Duper Whatever", but his license plate holders did not have any free advertising. 

Oh well, you can't win 'em all. 

 

Curious Carl

 

Can We Please Stop Blaming Immigrants?

Is there some formula to determine who is not descended from immigrants? 

We now know that even those folks we thought were Natives had pushed other people off the land as they moved in.  So even my Blackfoot and Osage connections were immigrants at some point. 

My mother's folks came from Germany in 1752(John Ludwig, who was a sea captain in the revolutionary war) and my dad's people were well settled in what is now West Virginia in the mid 1750's.  Somehow, between the 1750's and the late 1800's my people worked their way across this continent until here I am, a native Washingtonian living about as far West as we can go on the lower 48.  Some migration.  None of us would be here if it were not for daring, brave or  desperate people striking out into the unknown. 

When I first saw the rabbit hutch-like shacks occupied by migrant workers in the fields around Yakima, I didn't look down my nose at the people huddled there.  Instead it reminded me of stories my folks told me about their own humble beginning as dirt farmers in Spokane Valley.  They lived in a two room shack with a path to the out house and a pump outside the back door. 

So many of my people were farmers and miners and loggers and plain working class people.  Their labor built this mighty nation.  As a reward they were spat upon and looked down upon by the very people they helped make rich.  Many of them just accepted this as their lot in life, going to their churches and praying to their God, even knowing that their God was smiling with great favor on their Masters, while turning His back on them.  But somehow they thought that if they worked hard enough and prayed hard and long enough it would all work out. 

My dad took a different path.  Early on he became a labor organizer and a Radical.  He did not believe that the meek would inherit the earth, but instead they would be buried in it in unmarked graves. 

My dad taught me that being Patriotic did not mean that you bent your head and took the Masters lash.  True Patriots speak out against the inequities around them. 

Even knowing that this is now the United Corporate Empire of America, true Patriots call for a Peoples Revolution, a taking of power from the Ruling Class. 

 

Curious Carl

 

Struggling for a better world

 

The struggle for a better world is worth the effort.  There are times when I say, "Mankind is doomed".  Other times I say, "Yes we can!" 

But mostly I find life so exciting, and the trip through it so full of adventure, and my time so short, that I do not think in terms of, winning or losing.   I just think in terms of, doing. 

 

Curious Carl

 

a portion of Eisenhower's farewell speech 1961

Subject: a portion of Eisenhower's farewell speech 1961

As you read the following, think of how the mass media has been taken over and our ability to be the informed citizens has been corrupted. 

Curious Carl

*******

"...In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together..."

 

and more from Ike's 1961 speech

Subject: and more from Ike's 1961 speech

Did this man have a crystal ball? 

 

Carl Jarvis

*******

"...

Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society's future, we -- you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow..."

 

and still more of Ike's words we should have listened to

 

Who was this profit? 

 

Curious Carl

********

From Eisenhower's 1961 farewell speech

 

"...Down the long lane of the history yet to be written America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.

Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield.

Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose. Because this need is so sharp and apparent I confess that I lay down my official responsibilities in this field with a definite sense of disappointment. As one who has witnessed the horror and the lingering sadness of war -- as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this civilization which has been so slowly and painfully built over thousands of years -- I wish I could say tonight that a lasting peace is in sight..."

 

 

Ike's prayer which we have turned our backs upon

Oh Mister Obama, man of Peace.  Listen to the words of a past warrior turned statesman, and wonder where we have gone so wrong. 

 

Curious Carl

*****

From Eisenhower's farewell address, 1961

 

"...To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America's prayerful and continuing aspiration:

We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love..."

 

Reagan Screwed the Country -- That's the "Legacy" Conservatives AreCelebrating

Subject: Re: Reagan Screwed the Country -- That's the "Legacy" Conservatives AreCelebrating

In posting excerpts from Ike's farewell address in 1961, I never meant to suggest that he was a great president or even a leader.  Ike was a ho hum general with good political connections.  World War II was not won through his clever, inspired leadership.  Our Golden Age during his years as president had more to do with the post war boom than with his dynamic leadership. 

But I've always believed Ike to be a decent man who believed he was doing the right thing.  The "right thing", just as long as we keep in mind who Ike was serving. 

But Ronald Reagan was a man without virtue or morals.  He was, in Spirit at least, a member of the, "I'm For Me First Party". 

Ronald Reagan dreamed of being so much more than a Grade B actor, a level he barely reached.  Someone mentioned that he turned to politics because his acting career was in decline.  Please!  The man's acting career declined long before it ever got started. 

His most memorable role was sitting in front of the camera and saying, "At General Electric, Progress is our most Important Product".  And once he'd sold out to GE, he found it easy to sell out to the rest of the Ruling Class.  Indeed, Ronald Reagan became the Poster Boy for the Empire Builders, just as he had for GE.  Just a pretty face uttering meaningless platitudes. 

Ike believed that what he did was in the best interest of America.  But Ronald Reagan did not care for America.  In his 8 years as president, Reagan undermined our American Way of Life to a far greater degree than any of the so called Terrorists we are supposedly defending our nation against. 

 

But if you have your doubts, watch over the next days as the mass media fawns over our fallen hero and raises him to the lofty heights as a Great American Patriot. 

There are many presidents who might be voted, "Worst of All", Grant, Harding, Hoover, even Nixon could be in the running.  And when you really think about it, there are many more.  What about old huggable Andy Jackson?  But Ronald Reagan has more than earned that Oscar for Worst Performance.  Unless you happen to be in the 1.5% of the wealthiest Americans. 

 

Curious Carl

 

Is there a difference?

Article by,

Alex Seitz-Wald

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has grudgingly supported the anti-government movement in Egypt and called on President Hosni Mubarak to step down yesterday. But appearing on Fox News host Greta Van Susteren's show last night, McCain suggested he has serious reservations about the larger pro-democracy movement sweeping the Arab World from Tunisia to Jordon. McCain called the populist movement a "virus" that threatens Israel, and warned that we are in "probably the most dangerous period of history" of American involvement in the Middle East:

 ******

 

Style may matter, but often it covers up some real ugliness. 

President Obama is cool, smooth, commanding.  But he's sitting by, while we continue on the same destructive course that Bush set out on.  I couldn't tolerate listening to Bush, but was his war any different than Obama's? 

McCain never fooled me.  An old Hawk.  An old, angry, white Hawk.  Schooled in the Military Mentality.  Of course he hates democracy.  Democracy is very unmilitary.  People need to be organized and controlled. 

There are certainly differences from one individual to the next, but does it really matter if your throat is being cut by someone snarling and spitting in your face, or someone shaking their head sadly and saying, "I'm sorry to have to do this". 

Somehow we need to train ourselves to look past the wrapping and see what's inside the package.  We are all susceptible to being charmed. 

Bush had his people running the government.  We all knew that.  Obama wants to make certain we believe he is running the country.  So he is placed in the awkward position of having to pretend to be a great compromiser in order to cover the fact that he is following his own marching orders.  From the same people who controlled Bush and Clinton, and Bush before him, and most certainly Reagan.  And probably all the way back to Ike.  Eisenhower warned us to look out for the military-Industrial Complex.  Trouble was, his warning was already too late. 

Check the links below for Ike's speech. 

 

Carl Jarvis

Military-Industrial Complex Speech, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961  

Military-Industrial Complex Speech, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961 ... Like every other citizen, I wish the new President, and all who will labor with him, ...
www.h-net.org/~hst306/documents/indust.html - Cached - Similar

Ike warned of 'military-industrial complex' 50 years ago - The ...  

Jan 17, 2011 ... Ike warned of 'military-industrial complex' 50 years ago - The Oval: Tracking the Obama presidency.
content.usatoday.com/.../01/ike...military-industrial-complex.../1 - Cached

 

Stocks Are Going Up,But the Value of Your House Is Dropping -- The American Economy IsNot Making a Comeback

Subject: Re: Stocks Are Going Up,But the Value of Your House Is Dropping -- The American Economy IsNot Making a Comeback

Yup, President Hoover called it "Trickle Down".  Sniff sniff sniff, what's that strange smell dripping from high on Wall Street? 

 

Curious Carl

 

If Thy Enemy Offends Thee, Rub Him Out!

Subject: Re: If Thy Enemy Offends Thee, Rub Him Out!

How do we make sense out of a mad man's ranting?  The problem is not our Spiritual Nature.  The problem is Religion.  All religion.  Religion is our attempt to make sense out of that which we cannot explain. 

Because we are still mere infants in our ability to understand this vast Universe, we sweep together our fears, our hopes, our over simplifications of all that is around us, and we mix it all together and formalize it into Religion. 

Now we have something on which to shape our life.  Full of "Make Believe", myths, misinformation, unsubstantiated dreams and wishes and all sorts of other gobbldegook, we create our Truths.  And of course our Truth cannot be wrong.  After all, we created it.  And we must defend it against all wrong thinkers. 

Lost is our Spiritual Nature.  Lost is Reality.  If we cannot crawl back up out of the Rabbit Hole, we are most likely doomed. 

"Here lies Mankind, death by denial". 

 

Curious Carl