Thursday, July 28, 2011


Union Seeks to Hold Starbucks Accountable for their Union Busting at Home and Abroad

NEW YORK – Monday, July 25th, the IWW Starbucks Workers Union will launch a Global Week of Action in support of their separate but sister union El Sindicato de Trabajadores de Starbucks en Chile (Starbucks Workers Union in Chile).
Over 200 baristas and shift supervisors that work in the 32 Chilean Starbucks locations went on strike on July 7th. They are striking in an effort to have their demands met. Their most crucial demand is earning a higher wage. Currently baristas at Starbucks in Chile make $2.50/hr. while the drinks are still sold for US prices, and they haven’t received raises in 8 years. The baristas are also asking for a lunch stipend in order to eat during their shifts, this is something managers in Chile are provided.
Two weeks, to the day, after the strike began a New York City barista and mother of two young children was fired for announcing her membership in the IWW Starbucks Workers Union. The company gave no official reason for her termination but did fire her when she refused to meet with higher ups without her attorney and union representative present, which was a previous agreement between the union and management. Tiffany White-Thomas has worked at the Canal/Broadway Starbucks for over two years. She was up for a promotion when her store manager, Rafael Fox, told her that, being a mother, she would not have the time necessary to dedicate to the company so he would not be promoting her. A letter given to Tiffany’s managers made reference to the collective efforts of the IWW Starbucks Union and the Chilean Strikers. Both unions feel that that this solidarity across borders is seen as a threat to the company and is, in part, what led to Tiffany’s termination.
In New York City, the first solidarity action will be a press conference and picket in front of the Canal and Broadway Starbucks location, 405 Broadway between Walker and Canal St. The IWW is demanding full reinstatement of Tiffany White-Thomas and that Starbucks negotiate in good faith with their brothers and sisters of El Sindicato de Trabajadores de Starbucks en Chile.
Similar actions in support of the Chilean Strikers are expected in various cities throughout the US and the world throughout next week.
The IWW Starbucks Workers Union is a grassroots organization composed entirely of current and former Starbucks employees who have fought for respect, security, affordable health care and a living wage since 2004. Working together, SWU members have improved working conditions for Starbucks employees and won legal victories against unfair labor practices.
New to me no. 14 -
Reverse ferret

Used a couple of times in the latest 'Private Eye'. I think 'Obsolete' used it on his blog recently. According to the wikipedia article it was coined by the execrable Kelvin MacKenzie, so it must have been around since he was the vile editor of a vile racist scandal sheet.
I found out not long ago that this MacKenzie is not a real MacKenzie, his grandfather having found it politic to change his surname after having been tried for murder.
Having MacKenzie ancestry myself I was pleased to learn that.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Some headlines from Ian Bone's Blog -

MELANIE PHILLIPS – DON’T SELL HER ANY FERTILISER

ANDERS BREIVIK’S BIG INFLUENCE – MELANIE PHILLIPS OF THE DAILY MAIL

NORWAY KILLER IS RICHARD LITTLEJOHN WITH A GUN

Monday, July 25, 2011

"So let us fight together with Israel, with our Zionist brothers against all anti-Zionists, against all cultural Marxists/multiculturalists."
(Anders Behring Breivik)

via Angry Arab
Porcupine blog: Anders Breivik and the Consequences of Far Right Propaganda

Saturday, July 23, 2011

"If the bomb blast in Oslo turns out to be a terror attack, it will mark a 9/11 moment for Norway." (BBC website)
Or it could turn out to be a terror-free attack, say a Christian doing God's work.
Angry Arab suggests that only Muslim bombs are terrorist bombs.

On ITV yesterday, ace reporter Bill Neeley listed the suspects in order of likelihood -
1. al-Qa'ida
2. Gadhafi's people bringing the war to Europe.
3. Anarchists
4. Anti-immigration nationalists.

No. 4, Bill assured us, was highly unlikely, though he didn't say why.
How about the mass-murderer being a "Nordic looking white male", in the police description? These European converts can be fanatical, explained Bill.
This atrocity had al-Qa'ida's fingerprints all over it, was his verdict.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Jeremy "Berkeley" Hunt is our Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. I've posted this statement by him before, and no doubt I'll do so again. I LOVE IT.

"Rather than worry about Rupert Murdoch owning another TV channel, what we should recognise is that he has probably done more to create variety and choice in British TV than any other single person because of his huge investment in setting up Sky TV, which, at one point, was losing several million pounds a day.
"We would be the poorer and wouldn't be saying that British TV is the envy of the world if it hadn't been for him being prepared to take that commercial risk. We need to encourage that kind of investment."


By the way, nobody but a fool or a Murdoch creature would say that "British TV is the envy of the world" today.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

"On the other matters that have caught your attention this week, assuming we are thinking of the same thing, I am sure you will understand that we will want to be able to be entirely clear, for your sake and ours, that we have not been in contact with you about this subject." (Ed Llewellyn, advisor to David Cameron)

Its called plausible deniability.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011



"Frente a las urnas la revolución social"

"Fifty men own the lemon grove
And no man is a slave." (Herbert Read)
A quote: Ross Kemp to his then wife, Rebekah Wade -
"Shut up, you homophobic cow!" (source, Chris Bryant, MP)

Monday, July 18, 2011

He told the newspaper that not only did Coulson know of the phone hacking, but that he actively encouraged his staff to intercept the phone calls of celebrities in the pursuit of exclusives.
In a subsequent interview with the BBC he alleged that he was personally asked by his then-editor, Coulson, to tap into phones. In an interview with the PM programme he said Coulson's insistence that he didn't know about the practice was "a lie, it is simply a lie".

And now he's dead. Tomorrow Coulson appears before a parliamentary committee to deny that he knew anything about the phone hacking.

Correction, 19th July: Coulson is not appearing before the committee today. Today's business is with the Lord of the Flies and his fly-blown offspring. Also Knacker of the Yard and his sidekick.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

The roof is falling in on the Master of the Universe. His capiregime are falling like dominoes; his closest friends (i.e., clients and gofers) turn out to be mere nodding acquaintances. But I have no time to gloat, the Tour de France is in full flow.
Just time to point out -
Ms. Rebekah Brooks is arrested on suspicion of bribing the police, but no police have been arrested for accepting bribes from Ms. Brooks. Funny that.
The (ex?)Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Force has denied taking a bung (in kind) from the Murdoch mob. Claims the bung was from somebody else. So he's in the clear then.

Back to the Tour -
Young Ben Swift of the Sky team came home in sixth place on today's stage. He was interviewed afterwards and gave us a different pronunciation of the word peloton - pelo'on. You can take the lad out of Yorkshire ...
He's 126th overall at present. Here's hoping he makes it to Paris.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Welcome home! John Lynes, deported by Israel (Martin Deane)

I echo the sentiment. Old John is an inspiration to us all.

Monday, July 11, 2011

"... a bit more cut-throat ... less camaraderie ..."

I don't like to see TV people badgering riders for an interview at the end of a long day in the saddle, it never seems right. Still David Millar is tolerant and makes some interesting comments (link below).
I never bought a copy of the Screws of the World, and now I never will.
Not to say I haven't read it. I once had a job loading bundles of papers for distribution, and we got a buckshee copy of each paper. As far as I recall the main content of the Screws was court cases involving prostitutes or pimps. It was also known in those days as 'The Whore's Gazette'. Then there were the stories of Church of England clergymen buggering choirboys. Add a bit of sport, and that was the paper's version of "all human life ...".
Come to think of it, I may never have bought a Murdoch-infected paper; I know I haven't since the Wapping anti-union war.
In his book, "Diary of an Exile"*, The author Dónal MacAmhlaigh tells of selling the newspaper The Irish Democrat round the pubs on a Sunday lunchtime. One man refused to buy, informing him that the parish priest had warned against reading the Socialist paper. Same fellow, MacAmhlaigh noted, had a copy of the News of the World in his pocket. No clerical strictures on filth then.
All that was before Murdoch got a hold of the paper, then it was downhill from there.
Now that the Screws has been killed off by its owner, let's hope that the public transfers the proposed boycott to other Murdoch titles, in particular the the one sometimes referred to as "The Scum". Does anyone believe that that paper's muckspreaders weren't up to the same felonious activity?

* The original Irish language title (Dialann Deorai). The English title, "An Irish Navvy", strikes me as stereotyping.
Harper Seven.

As Beckham's needy wife boasts of never having read a book it's unlikely that the child is named after Harper Lee.

Saturday, July 09, 2011

"The Church of England entered the row over phone hacking yesterday with a threat to sell its £4m shares in News Corporation if it failed to hold "senior managers" to account over the scandal."

"Shares in the UK TV company were down 12% last week amid mounting concern in the City that the purchase could be blocked because the company may now fail to fulfil the requirement of being a "fit and proper" owner."

No connection of course. Apparently the church has an 'ethical investment advisory group'. What was their advice on the Dirty Digger's output? "Mild porn, racism, sexism, false witness - but Rupert's a Christian."
South Sudan is now an independent, sovereign nation.
So now it's on to the power struggles and the civil war.
"Bloodclaat! Babylon." (The Harder They Fall)
"Mongo - SANTAMARIA!" (Blazing Saddles)

Yep, Big Rupe has hit town and all those politicians who denied the Master are hearing the cock crow. Will the Great Satan call on his factotum in Downing Street to approach the presence and make obeisance? Or will he demonstrate his displeasure by casting him into the outer darkness where Gordon Brown and Andy Coulson weep and gnash their teeth? Give Dave a break, Rupe, he's done his best to stem the tide, and has risked being swept away by it. All for you, Mighty One.
Boris Johnson could be angling for the post of Murdoch's top political gofer in the UK. He was on the BBC on Thursday morning singing the Master's praises, and telling the John Humphreys of all the good things he'd done for British journalism (without going into the specifics). He declared all Murdoch's detractors to be mean-spirited and envious of his achievements.

"Beware: many sounding off now will betray us with a kiss (and not tell)." (Marina Hyde)

Thursday, July 07, 2011

A Guardian headline asks what is the meaning of a "fit and proper" test. Easily answered; in the UK it means "Are they rich enough?"
Now is the time for all Murdoch minions, cronies and clients to declare that they are "disgusted and appalled" about what they've been up to, and that the search for a scapegoat goes on apace.

A petition opposing the Great Satan's machinations.

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

"I want to inform the House of further evidence that suggests Rebekah Brooks knew about the unlawful tactics of News of the World as early as 2002, despite all her denials yesterday. Rebekah Brooks was present at a meeting with Scotland Yard when police officers pursuing a murder investigation provided her with evidence that her newspaper was interfering with the pursuit of justice. They gave her the name of another executive at News International, Alex Marunchak. The meeting, which included Dick Fedorcio of the Metropolitan police, told her that News of the World staff were guilty of interference and party to using unlawful means to attempt to discredit a police officer and his wife. She was told of actions by people she paid to expose and discredit David Cook and his wife Jackie Haines so that Mr Cook would be prevented from completing an investigation into a murder. News International were paying people to interfere with police officers and were doing so on behalf of known criminals. We know now that News International had entered the criminal underworld."
(Tom Watson, MP, in the House of Commons today)
WOW! Wouldn't Ms. Brooks be in deep shit if she wasn't protected by the ruler of this country, Rupert Murdoch? I expect Murdoch's Metropolitan Police will be feeling Tom Watson's collar soon.

Monday, July 04, 2011

The singing union now has a musical.

Harold Smultz - the name has a familiar ring.

Friday, July 01, 2011

Marina Hyde - the woman is inspiring. Here is her reworking of the Oscar Wilde aperçu in a piece on Murdoch journalists -
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking up Britney's skirt."
"More than 1,000 teachers, lecturers and civil servants took to the streets of Hull, protesting over the proposed changes to public sector pensions." (Hull Daily Mail)

That's a good turnout for Hull. There were students marching too, supporting their teachers and lecturers; and members of other unions.