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{Cross-post of a Blog Post I published on Dailykos.com on 9.27.2020}   I don’t need to tell you the news. Today every State Legislative race in the USA got a huge kick in the pants . (Link to Amy Klobuchar speaking for all of us.) Our best and first line of attack is our state legislatures. Who we elect and where we elect them matters. Now, more than ever. Not just in terms of defending our rights and fighting the GOP gerrymander, but also in terms of passing laws that reflect the will of the people. And yeah, whether it’s the ACA or Roe , Gun Sense or LGBTQ equality , Voting rights  or BLM , if the Republican party can’t respect the clearly expressed voice of the people then the people need to kick the Republican party out on its posterior . (That link is to the just released DLCC Act Blue page targeting 48 races to flip power in no fewer than 10 Republican controlled state legislatures .) So let’s talk about Arizona. Arizona’s state legislature is currently...

Every union organizer has a ritual.  It might be where you stand near the gate where the cars drive up to the job site. It might be how you hold the clip board when you get ready to knock on a door. It might be how you sort and re-sort your list, going over names of workers, shifts and departments until you know them like they were permanently etched inside your skull. For me, in this case, it was a table, in a cafeteria, in a hospital.  I'd order a cup of coffee and sit in the same chair, facing the same direction with my materials carefully tucked away and my ball cap sitting on the chair beside me. And then I'd wait... It was a big city Children's Hospital serving kids from all over. If you live anywhere near me, you've seen it from the freeway, Life Flight helicopters occasionally touching down yards from traffic. I'd sit at a central table, facing the entrance, cashiers and serving stations to the right of me and salad bar at my back. I'd be there morning...

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Dear Arsenal fans, At a moment when many in the press have made Arsenal and Arsene Wenger the focus of unkind jokes, and even some fans are giving in to pessimism, I think there's still strong reason for hope. Arsenal's financial position is strong and the team has a stable core of experienced players. There is time in this window and a powerful rationale for more players to join; Arsenal will compete in four competitions and may well win a trophy, or even a title, this year. That doesn't negate the stark realities facing the team. First, having cleared out a large number of players, some of whom played a good bit last year (Gervinho, Arshavin) and also struggling with short (Arteta, Vemaelen) and long term (Diaby, Ox, Podolski) injuries, Arsenal need to add depth to the squad. Depth is needed not just to avoid fatigue in a season with four competitions, but also to fuel the attacking style of play that Arsenal is famous for. Second, the team needs, and has needed...

Proud to have joined this action .

...and the GOP, and Big Oil, and the Big Banks, and Big Energy, and the Club for Growth, and the Koch Brothers.

Worst Congress Ever. Read it and weep. All the more reason to kick: Brian Bilbray , Scott Brown David McKinley , and these folks out of office.

To his credit, Aguero didn't attempt to get a penalty. He pushed through two players to even have a chance to run on to Balotelli's pass, rounded a third and refused to fall when that would have been the easy call...and beat a fourth and fifth defender AND the keeper with his speed...and scored. Monumental goal.

Good stuff from Kaiser workers speaking out against Kaiser Permanente's race to become "just one more greedy corporation." Kaiser's CEO George Halvorson made $8.9 million in total compensation in 2010. What did he make in 2011 while asking these NUHW workers to give up their defined benefit pension and refusing to agree to sensible safe staffing proposals at the bargaining table? Shame on Kaiser Permanente!

"Essa canção sempre estará nos nossos corações. Muito obrigado Cesária. Descanse em Paz..." "Vamos a toda prisa a amar a la gente - que mueren tan rápido. A partir de hoy el mundo ya no es el mismo." "ATÉ SEMPRE CESÁRIA, africa viva" "Mindelo pleure la reine Evora, Ti otu diâ… Ti otu diâ, Césaria ! Femme de l’Afrique, impératrice du Cap-Vert… La diva aux pieds nus s’est tue, a mis le cap vers Les cieux, en chantonnant et dansant sa Sodade, Qui résonne désormais ici-bas de façon maussade… Le monde pleure la reine Evora, Au revoir… Au revoir, Césaria !" "Sodade i'm crying. From Italy Im Capeverdien." "Une étoile qui brillera dans le beau ciel cap verdien ! Césaria, la diva aux pieds nus à la voix si mélancolique va nous manquer !"

This is what it looked and felt like when the people shut down the powerful for one day in Oakland, California: Video by the organizers and participants of War-Times.org.

Kaiser CEO George Halvorson made $7.9 million in 2009. Kaiser Permanente has made $5.7 billion in profits in the last 30 months, and yet Halvorson has the audacity to ask healthcare workers to give up their defined benefit pension, retiree health benefits and to accept deep cutbacks that will fundamentally change how Kaiser healthcare workers receive healthcare from their employer. Kaiser's healthcare takeaway will essentially convert healthcare workers into Kaiser customers who will then be forced into incentivized "cafeteria" plans based on hours worked instead of receiving, as they do now, full coverage as part of their overall compensation.

Once again, writer Chris Rauber of the San Francisco Business Times, has simply reprinted a press release and gotten an entire story wrong. You'd think that after completely mischaracterizing a significant story about how unfair Kaiser rate hikes were impacting California healthcare consumers and in the process making insinuations about the Chronicle's Victoria Colliver (who actually got the story right !), Rauber would think twice about reflexively diving in on the side of established business interests. Apparently not. In the case of Rauber's nanny-journalism attack on Colliver, it turns out healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente did hike its rates unfairly and is now paying millions back to California consumers . If Rauber had his way, would Colliver's story have even been written, and would hundreds of thousands of Californians have a few extra bucks in their pockets today? It's doubtful. It's pretty clear that Rauber has a bias against unions and consumers. ...

A compendium of Los Angeles Times articles about corruption within SEIU . Featuring articles on Alejandro Stephens, Annelle Grajeda, Tyrone Freeman, Rickman Jackson, Sharon Frances Moore and James Bryant. Important information for Kaiser workers considering the choice between SEIU and NUHW. Make an informed choice .

Here's a new website for Kaiser workers seeking to make an informed decision about their choice of union in the upcoming election between NUHW and the SEIU-UHW. It's called Kaisercoworkers.org . You'll find sections on the Facts , a discussion of what's important to Kaiser workers, and important information about how cast your ballot for NUHW .

The Santa Rosa Stewards open letter .

NUHW members describe what's changed at work and how joining NUHW and leaving SEIU was the right choice for them. More information here.