- Civil Rights for the Mentally Ill (5/24/2005) - From my comrade in Staten Island, Tom Good: Dear Comrades, Please sign the online petition for civil rights for the mentally ill at - http://www.petitiononline.com/just1nyc/ ** Please list your organization if you are in a union or healthcare related employment - or are a member of a mainstream political action group as we are trying to pressure elected officials to do the right thing. ** If you are free tomorrow evening: Community Board One will… …
- The Wal-Mart Revolution is Bananas!!! (5/23/2005) - There's a pretty good article in today's Washington Post about legal efforts to block Wal-Mart from invading the region. These include a measure that would restrict the location of stores larger than 120,000 feet (the typical size of a Wal-Mart Supercenter) and one which would require employers to spend eight percent of their payroll on health care if they have more than 10,000 employees in Maryland (only one company employs as many people while paying… …
- From the End of Your Leash (5/19/2005) - I finally reached one of my goals for this website and got my first batch of free CDs for review, thanks to the good people at Bloodshot Records. Don't think any less of my journalistic integrity if I wind up only writing positive reviews. I've long been a fan of the record label and its stable of clever and nervy alt.country artists. Perhaps the best record that I missed in 2004, "From the End of… …
- A Brief Return to the Twentieth Century: Gang of Four at Irving Plaza (5/18/2005) - The Gang of Four returned to New York in great style and form last night, showing no signs of their two-decade gap in performing. They were tight and sharp and ready to take over the world. Darting across stage and frequently switching places, Andy Gill's jagged guitars sounded every bit as dangerous as they do on those old records while Jon King punctuated his singing by wildly flailing his arms like some sort of spastic… …
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- Baseball and Hardball (5/17/2005) - I saw my first Mets game of the season, a terrific 9 to 2 bludgeoning of the Reds. "Value" tickets for last night's game were just $5 for the nosebleed seats in the upper decks. For $5, one can't really complain. Actually, I rather prefer it way up there. All the games that I saw as a kid were in the upper decks, so that's how I learned to follow the ball in play. Those… …
- Terrific Coverage from Staten Island’s Paper of Record (5/14/2005) - Union members distribute fliers protesting plans for 2 local Wal-Marts By ROB HART STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE Friday, May 13, 2005 A Queens resident who helped derail Wal-Mart's attempt to build a store in his borough joined union members and volunteers yesterday in protesting the big-boxer's plans to build on Staten Island. Shaun Richman, along with members of Local 342 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, handed out small orange fliers to late-afternoon commuters… …
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- Ravenswood (5/13/2005) - I was very excited to receive in the mail this week all of the books and syllabi for my first courses at the U-Mass Labor Studies program. I'm taking Labor Law, with Harris Freeman, and Labor Research, with Tom Juravich. I decided to start lightly with "Ravenswood: The Steelworkers' Victory and the Revival of American Labor," which Juravich co-wrote with Kate Bronfenbrenner, and which is included in the syllabus for the Labor Research course mostly,… …
- Gimme Free (5/11/2005) - Free shows are for the unemployed. This fact used to piss me off...when I had a job. Two years ago, I remember leaving work early and racing all the way downtown to see one of my favorite bands, Spoon, play a free show at Castle Clinton, only to be among the hundreds of fans who were beaten to the punch by the reserve army of the unemployed. I finally made up for that day by… …
- Love Mom, Not Wal-Mart (5/7/2005) - The Wake Up Wal-Mart campaign is taking the opportunity this Mother's Day to highlight Wal-Mart's discrimination against women in their employ. Of course, I should have posted this story weeks ago, but who ever does anything early for Mother's Day? Wake Up Wal-Mart Visit the site, sign a pledge that you will not buy any Mother's Day gifts at Wal-Mart while they discriminate against all the moms who work for them, forward to everyone you… …
- Black Tuesday (5/6/2005) - I need to remind myself that I am not a professional journalist. I am, help me, a "blogger" with no cover and no paycheck. I need to write for an imagined audience that includes all my friends, comrades, neighbors, family and girlfriends (past, present and future) as well as all of my employers, past and prospective. I'd like to offer all of my opinions on Tuesday's "restructuring" of the AFL-CIO that closed and merge departments… …