<$BlogRSDURL$>
Shadows Over Ghostville



Let's turn the lights back on...

E-mail stories or comments: Dan Stafford

The failing of small towns across America is a canary in the coal mine. Jobs are disappearing everywhere across the country.
We can no longer sit silent while Washington denudes the U.S. of its farms, ranches, factories, defenses, and wealth.
Make no mistake - this country is being gutted like a corporate takeover. The people are being left with nothing.
Our military is being wasted in Iraq to enrich defense contractors. Oil is just a small part of that picture.
And when there are no factories left to manufacture a defense, when we are importing everything, food, fuel, weapons,
Letting rot the riches and heritage of this great nation, who will stop someone under their economic control from coming to take it?
Nuclear weapons? These people have the codes. They even have most of the news media in their back pockets.
Perhaps they will even have convinced al of us with their TV news it's better to be taken over than to starve,
Since none of us will have work by the time they are done other than "services" to the few wealthy in control.
These people talk God but they speak with a forked tongue while they slip their hands in your wallet pocket.
They are NOT the friend of rural America. They are NOT the friend of megalopolises. They are only friends to
their wallets. All this talk of "doing it for yourself" is horse puckey. That's to divide us. There is a
Reason why our coins are stamped "United We Stand." Because if we are working together and helping each other,
we succeeed, because we are greater than our individual efforts, struggling alone - and dying off, like these
small towns over America. You can take that to the bank, but you might have to work your passage overseas first.

D.

Get registered at: http://www.rockthevote.com/



Thursday, August 26, 2004
 
By Molly Ivins: Bye Bye Overtime...


All newspaper editors want to know what their readers like. If you would like to read this feature in your local newspaper, please do not hesitate to share your enthusiasm with your local newspaper editor.

RELEASE: TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2004, AND THEREAFTER AUSTIN, Texas - It's an early Labor Day SURPRISE!

Congratulations, if you make between $23,660 and $100,000, you have just very likely lost your right to overtime pay, courtesy of the Bush administration. If this comes as news to you, thank your friendly media, who are much too busy reporting lies abut John Kerry's heroism in Vietnam to bother with this story affecting your life. But next time you hear someone say, "Oh, I just don't care much about politics," you might want to recall this particular connection -- especially if it means you have to go out and get another job.

This stunner is brought to you by President Bush and his big-business campaign donors. The Senate has voted twice to stop the change, so there's no point in raising hell with them. The House of Representatives, the "people's house," dodged the question. So Bush's Department of Labor just up and issued hundreds of pages of new rules on who gets overtime pay.

Full story: http://www.creators.com/opinion_show.cfm?columnsName=miv

- posted by AquarianM @ 6:40 AM
 
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Poll: Voters Want Paper Trail (Politics 2:00 a.m. PDT)
http://go.hotwired.com/news/politics/0,1283,64700,00.html/wn_ascii

Almost three-quarters of likely voters think electronic voting systems
should produce a paper record the voter can verify, according to a new
poll. But that's not likely to happen for many of them in November. By
Laila Weir.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

- posted by AquarianM @ 12:50 AM
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
 
Are Oil Companies Keeping Prices Low At the Pump to Save Bush's Butt?
Kyle Murphy

OpEdNews.com

Remember years past, each and every time there was a spike in the price of a barrel of crude oil, maybe a spike of .50-$1. Literally the next day prices at the pump would jump a few cents. I can remember local papers complaining that it should take weeks for those barrel prices to effect consumers. Oil companies are far too powerful to feel any pressure from the NYT or the Washington Post, so they always got away with it. This time is different, something has changed dramatically. Something so obvious that we all missed it.

Full Op-Ed:  
http://www.opednews.com/murphy_081904_oil_prices.htm

- posted by AquarianM @ 7:34 AM
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
 
E-Diesel Research Resumes at MSU

Written by: Wendy Fernstrum, Special Correspondent
02/17/2003

The search continues for a diesel fuel that performs well and is cost-effective. While government agencies, companies, non-profit organizations and associations such as MCGA agree that a new kind of fuel is necessary to achieve air quality mandates, the exact formulation of that fuel is not yet clear.

E-diesel might be the answer. E-diesel is a blend of ethanol and petroleum-based diesel fuel and/or biodiesel, made from renewable fats and oils such as soybean oil. Although biodiesel is already registered with the EPA as a fuel and a fuel additive, operates on diesel engines without modifications, burns substantially cleaner than petroleum-based diesel fuel and is readily available, a blend that includes ethanol could further increase those benefits.

(Full Story)

- posted by AquarianM @ 5:36 PM
 
E85 gets high marks from MSU students

Written by: Wendy Fernstrum, special correspondernt
12/18/2002

"Give it some gas." That's what some people say when they want to go faster. But the automotive engineering students at Minnesota State University (MSU) in Mankato know better. They say, "Give it some E85." High performance is critical to these engineers-in-training, because they compete against other college teams in events such as the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Collegiate Design Competitions.

Recently, the competitions have allowed the use of E85. "We were lobbying for higher concentrations of ethanol for a long time," said MSU Professor Bruce Jones, who works closely with the student teams as they prepare for competitions. "We knew definite performance gains could be made. Whenever there's an ability to use E85, the students use it. Hands down, it's a better fuel."

(Full story...)

- posted by AquarianM @ 5:31 PM
 
Overtime Pay Cuts Went Into Effect Yesterday

When was the last time the government cut your paycheck? That’s what’s
going to happen to millions of workers because of President Bush’s
overtime pay take-away. Starting today, employers can reclassify some 6
million workers as ineligible for overtime pay.

We can’t let this massive pay cut for working families go into effect
without a major nationwide outcry. We need your help today to make sure
the Bush administration and its allies in Congress hear the voices of
millions of working people. We’d like you to do two things to mark this
outrageous attack on working families.

First, please sign a new petition to Save Overtime Pay and help
demonstrate broad opposition to Bush’s overtime pay take-away. Click the
link below to sign the petition.
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/otpay_remember/8wnbki42kxki6

Some 6 million people could lose their right to overtime pay thanks to
the Bush overtime pay grab. Every working person in America—and every
voter—needs to know that President Bush is responsible. So the second
thing we’re asking you to do today is to let your friends, family and
co-workers know what is going on and ask them to sign the petition.

People are speaking out against this outrageous pay cut in many different
ways. You’ll hear from us very soon about more opportunities to make a
difference for working families. We’ll let you know how you can volunteer
to help take back America for working families and what you can do to
pressure Congress to repeal Bush’s overtime pay take-away.

Thanks for all you do. Together we’ll remember in November.

In Solidarity,

Working Families e-Activist Network, AFL-CIO
August 23, 2004

- posted by AquarianM @ 5:20 PM
Thursday, August 19, 2004
 
This Monday: Bush Overtime Cuts Begin:

Dear Working Families e-Activist:

For more than a year we've fought to save the right to overtime pay for the millions of America's workers targeted by the Bush administration's overtime pay take-away. Responding to the avalanche of letters, faxes and phone calls you've sent, three times senators and representatives have said 'No' to these pay cuts with bipartisan votes. But each time the White House, working with Republican leaders in Congress, has blocked the legislation that would have saved workers' right to overtime pay.

On Monday, Aug. 23, the overtime pay take-away—the biggest pay cut in America's history—goes into effect. Employers will begin to decide who loses the right to overtime pay at their workplaces. Unfortunately, they'll have some help from Uncle Sam. The U.S. Department of Labor will be using your tax dollars to offer "assistance" to companies trying to figure this out.

This is an outrage. And we will not let this day pass without making our voices heard.

On Monday, we will launch an important new petition to demonstrate our outrage to the media, Congress and the Bush administration. We're going to demand they repeal this massive pay cut for America's working families.

Our fight doesn't end on Monday. It begins again and will last through Election Day, Nov. 2, and beyond until we reclaim the right to overtime pay for all workers.

While we keep fighting, we'll be assessing the price working families are paying for Bush's overtime pay take-away. Fortunately, many union members will be protected by their contracts. And now, nonunion workers can turn to a new organization for help-Working America, a community affiliate of the AFL-CIO for nonunion folks.

Working America is launching two new Internet resources right now to help people cope with the Bush overtime pay take-away.

Overtime Pay Take-Away Test from Working America
This short online questionnaire from Working America will help you figure out if your employer may try to take away your right to overtime pay. Please click below now to check out the test.
http://www.workingamerica.org/issues/ot_quiz.cfm

Ask a Lawyer from Working America
Through Working America, a labor lawyer with expertise in wage and hour laws is available to you via the Internet. Submit your question and Working America will help you get an answer--for free. This doesn't substitute for legal advice, but it helps. Just click below to get started.
http://www.workingamerica.org/issues/ot_askalawyer_main.cfm

Stay tuned for Labor Day actions and opportunities to make a difference when Congress returns in September. We'll be looking for thousands of volunteers and we'll need your help!

Thanks for all you do. Look for more e-mails soon.

In Solidarity,

Working Families e-Activist Network, AFL-CIO
August 19, 2004

- posted by AquarianM @ 5:06 PM
Thursday, August 12, 2004
 
AFL-CIO Union store online:

http://unionshop.aflcio.org/shop/index.cfm

Buy made in the USA with pride.

Other online labor union stores:

http://unionshop.aflcio.org/shop/links.cfm

- posted by AquarianM @ 5:13 PM
Friday, August 06, 2004
 
'Nearshore'--the new offshore?

Published: August 6, 2004, 10:08 AM PDT
By Andy McCue Special to CNET News.com

"Nearshore" is the new offshore in the United Kingdom, with outsourcers favoring the former Eastern bloc countries and Morocco as opposed to traditional locations such as India, according to a new report.

The report, "Profiting from European Nearshore Outsourcing" from analyst firm Datamonitor, found that companies are increasingly looking to countries such as the Czech Republic when it comes to moving call center operations to lower-wage locations overseas.

Full story:
http://news.com.com/%27Nearshore%27--the+new+offshore%3F/2100-1011-5300098.html?part=dht&tag=ntop

- posted by AquarianM @ 4:45 PM

Powered by Blogger