In fact, on the measurable criteria he is completely wrong. Read more

The thought of my company’s weak AF union walking off the job is laughable. They’ve tried a strike exactly once in my 14 years here. You had the 3 diehards (local president and 2 stewards) outside picketing and the rest drove right on by to clock in. Read more

The wealthy ruling class has never generously shared the benefits of the economy they control. Those benefits were fought for by working class Americans who suffered in that fight. The corporate masters and their political puppets that hoard the wealth of this world will keep taking until there is nothing left. Like… Read more

I think that one of the biggest barriers to a meaningful lasting strike is a lack of preparedness due to economic conditions. It was easier for our grandparents and great grandparents to strike, they had family homes to return to if things went south. They had gardens, they had survival skills, they knew how to live… Read more

The largest barrier to a general strike, which would be insanely effective, is that no one group is willing to sublimate themselves to a large tent with the exception of, likely, BLM and the Socialists. Read more

I am a member of a union. I have been highly motivated to participate in and increase membership of my union. To get all the workers, everyone who does something that does so at the whim of a boss that doesn’t necessarily understand what they are asking, to get on board and sign cards.
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This year instead of a turkey my family is cooking and eating a dog, covered in dog gravy. A nice fat dog we’ve been plumping up to eat. Read more

i worked building the new hospital adjacent to the main rec yard/b-ball court and newby receiving area 8 or 9 years ago now. intimidating the first time you walk through the sally-port (“got your whistle?”) and get sized up by the locals but never had any real issues with the inmates. guards, well there’s a few i owe… Read more

I interned for a summer at San Quentin a few years ago, when I was in law school. This says a lot about my preconceptions, but I was very quickly struck by how most of the guys I met inside were personable, friendly, thoughtful people who were making profound daily efforts at self-improvement and self-reflection. I… Read more

That is a fantastic read. I’ve lived within a 80 mile radius of San Quentin my entire life, and didn’t have a clue the prison is today considered a better place than most by prisoners. Then again, given the left leaning politics and incredible resources available within the greater Bay Area, it also makes sense, too. … Read more

Want to take this opportunity to plug the Prison University Project, which operates an accredited 2-year college that takes place within San Quentin, one of only 2 or 3 institutions that do this in the US. Bard College is another, but I’m unaware of any others unless there are new ones in the last several years. Most… Read more

I have a cousin in San Quentin. Killed an old man driving drunk. Read more

Oh my god, my heart is breaking. Fuck you Hamilton, please just rile me up about property taxes again, it’s the only emotion I know how to handle well! Read more

I like that all 10 dudes get to go to the same bar and enjoy the same beers...or that you can even approximate the spectrum of American wealth with one person repping the Top 10%...yes, some corporate middle-manager making $125k is exactly like everyone else making more than that. Such bullshit. Read more

I like the part where the bar owner inexplicably reduces the cost by $20. Only in conservative economics do business owners for no apparent reason reduce their profits. Read more

I’m a professor of economics, and that story is dumber than anything I’ve ever heard from my undergrads. Read more

So, I mean, whatever, the analogy is stupid, yes, but if she was going to break out this trope about the inevitability of tax cuts benefitting the rich, maybe she should have TOLD HER BOSS BEFORE HE CLAIMED THAT HIS TAX CUTS WOULDN’T BENEFIT THE RICH. Read more

This parable also seems to assume that everyone is having an equal amount of beer, which extended to our budget is, ummm, not exactly the case. Read more

I watched this dumbass analogy live, and am more convinced now then ever that it’s the most reductive, backward, and illogical parable ever conceived.
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I remember getting this email back when I was in college, and I graduated in 2003. That was in the middle of the viral email era, by 2011 I’m sure this was shared on Facebook a gazillion times by people that used Obummer without irony. Read more