Working Life

    Sen. Sherrod Brown, one of the best legislators in the Congress on just about every issue but certainly on trade, had an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal yesterday that called "Don’t Call Me a Protectionist". Taking on the issue of the so-called "free trade" deal with Colombia, here’s the key passage: Let’s […]

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    You know how the proponents of the so-called "free trade" deal with Colombia have argued that the U.S. just has to move ahead with the deal to show support for the great protectors of democracy in Colombia? Er…get me rewrite on those speeches. From Reuters on Monday: Colombian government ministries and other state institutions […]

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    Today there is more news on the deaths of construction workers in New York City. Apparently, our mayor–who never saw a nice, shiny building project he didn’t like no matter if most residents in the city can never afford to live in those nice, shiny buildings–has noticed that a bunch of construction workers are, […]

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  Like a lot of workers, construction workers aren’t seen by most people going to and from work, home or whatever else they happen to be doing–until a construction worker dies some horrible death. Their deaths are, I think, shrugged off as the inevitable cost of "progress" and "economic activity". But, these deaths do not […]

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    Simon Romero, a correspondent for The New York Times in South America, seems to spend most of his time trying to write up the next slanted article against Hugo Chavez. So, it’s no wonder that he lets the obvious evade him. Well, today is different–a bit. I’m going to guess that his editors in […]

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  I keep thinking that there will be a limit on how far thinking people will go to turn a blind eye to the death and misery brought to us courtesy of so-called "free trade". But, lo and behold, every day brings new wonders at the capacity of our government, and its servants in the […]

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  I happened to see a cartoon recently in which one person says to another, "My 401(k) feels like a 201(k)". That is, indeed, one of the other, less-talked about facts that many people are facing in the more-visible credit-crisis gripping our economy. You would think that that reality would force a serious rethinking of […]

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I have to admit to a knee-jerk dislike when I hear the name "General Electric". It goes back to the days when the company that claims "we bring good things to life" was deep in the business of producing nuclear weapons, which have a quirky ability to end life. Then, there was the reign of […]

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    Reports out yesterday about what labor will spend on the 2008 general election campaign. This from The Wall Street Journal: With a $54 million budget, the AFL-CIO is likely to spend more than any organization outside the presidential campaigns and the political parties. The AFL-CIO spent $49 million on the 2004 election. Other labor […]

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    Reports out yesterday about what labor will spend on the 2008 general election campaign. This from The Wall Street Journal: With a $54 million budget, the AFL-CIO is likely to spend more than any organization outside the presidential campaigns and the political parties. The AFL-CIO spent $49 million on the 2004 election. Other labor […]

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