Election

Conservative Abqjournal hides the facts about Hostess Brands, Inc

No surprise, really. An article in the Abqjournal about Hostess’ bankruptcy blames the union 100% and makes NO mention of recent HUGE increases in executive compensation. The apparently incompetent CEO walks with a small fortune.

ABQJournal Online » Workers’ Strike Proves Fatal to Hostess

By Journal Staff on Fri, Nov 16, 2012

Hostess Brands Inc. says it’s going out of business – and eliminating 18,500 jobs – after striking workers across the country crippled its ability to make its Twinkies, Ding Dongs and other snacks.

The move will also result in the closure of a contract Albuquerque distributing company, putting 27 local drivers, merchandisers and other employees out of work.

ABQJournal Online » Workers’ Strike Proves Fatal to Hostess

Hostess Blames Union For Bankruptcy After Tripling CEO’s Pay | ThinkProgress

while headlines have been quick to blame unions for the downfall of the company there’s actually more to the story: While the company was filing for bankruptcy, for the second time, earlier this year, it actually tripled its CEO’s pay, and increased other executives’ compensation by as much as 80 percent.

At the time, creditors warned that the decision signaled an attempt to “sidestep” bankruptcy rules, potentially as a means for trying to keep the executive at a failing company. The Confectionery, Tobacco Workers & Grain Millers International Union pointed this out in their written reaction to the news that the business is closing:

BCTGM members are well aware that as the company was preparing to file for bankruptcy earlier this year, the then CEO of Hostess was awarded a 300 percent raise (from approximately $750,000 to $2,550,000) and at least nine other top executives of the company received massive pay raises. One such executive received a pay increase from $500,000 to $900,000 and another received one taking his salary from $375,000 to $656,256.

Hostess Blames Union For Bankruptcy After Tripling CEO’s Pay | ThinkProgress

5 stars

$5 a Day (5 stars)

$5 a Day (2008) – IMDb

For many of us, all we need to know about a movie is that Christopher Walken is in it. But then, we’ve all seen movies that even Walken couldn’t save. But this is no cameo: Walken is the star of the movie and in nearly every scene. I think it is much to the credit of Alessandro Nivola that he holds his own toe-to-toe with Walken. Sharon Stone was a very pleasant surprise and a far more interesting character than you may assume on first blush. I recommend this movie.

The Atheist's Pulpit

Happy Birthday, Kurt Vonnegut!

[reprinted from May, 2002]

Months ago, when I heard that Kurt Vonnegut would be speaking at UNM, I thought, “of course, I’ll be there.” I soaked up Vonnegut’s satire in high school, lo, 30 40 years ago. But, for no reason, I never got around to buying a ticket. Little did I realize the ironies to come when Merri said, “I have good news and bad news.”

The bad news was that Vonnegut was sold out. The good news was that I could join a couple of guys from the Daily Lobo in the Media Booth. After all, I have had a number of letters printed in the Lobo — I have written for the Lobo. When I heard “Media Room,” I envisioned a bright, high-tech space with laptop ports and phones and recording equipment. Happy with my good fortune, I jotted down “sometimes good things happen to OK people.”

To my surprise, the Media Room was more like a wide, dark closet in the far back of the auditorium. The only light came through sliding glass windows facing the hall that can only be opened so far, in an alternating arrangement of glass, opening, glass, opening. And it wasn’t just me and my Lobo colleagues — there were 3, sometimes 6, other people in the booth with us. As more people crowded into the booth, I ended up seated behind glass. Most shocking of all, there was no amplified sound, just whatever sound that could drift to the back of the hall and through the half-open windows, one of which was eventually blocked by the Lobo photographer, partly to photograph but mostly so he could lean out and actually hear something.

As Vonnegut began to speak, people in the booth shifted uncomfortably and asked each other if they could hear. One woman had very good hearing and occasionally repeated a bon mot. Now & then the photographer leaned back into the booth and repeated something, too. Several people behind us just left.

For the next hour, while 2000 people listened to one of the wittiest men alive, I strained with all my might to pick out every other word. It was like listening to a foreign language, me straining for the gist, grasping a word here and there, using the end of the sentence to infer the beginning, while the native speakers were laughing their asses off.

I did get the gist. I was particularly surprised that Vonnegut is a self-professed Luddite. A sci-fi writing Luddite? I heard enough to laugh when he said “human beings are here to fart-around.” (Me, “I love to work at nothing all day.”) I missed a couple of manipulations of the doting crowd. I followed much of the chalkboard presentation on good story lines, ending with the analysis that nothing really happens in Hamlet. (As Merri points out, Bart Simpson reached a similar conclusion.)

In the end I was exhausted from all my effort, like an ungifted student of Wit as a Second Language. Much was lost in the translation. I think I endured it for much the same reason people revere the Buddha’s nail clippings — even a fragment of greatness is better than our ordinary lives.

It was, indeed, a night of irony. As I left my deaf booth, I saw & heard the TV, carrying a live broadcast just outside the Media Room door. I saw the patron with the headset for amplified assistance. Would a Luddite begrudge us this much technology? I practically slapped my forehead when Merri said, “maybe there was a switch for speakers.” I remembered Vonnegut’s last words, sharp echoes of Merri’s: “tell me, which was the good news and which was the bad.” More than farting around, I believe we’re here to appreciate Irony. mjh

Election

From an old-ish, straight white guy

I’ve always taken some pride in being out of the mainstream. For example, I’m the only person on the planet who has never seen the gangnam video. I do not give a damn about sports or religion (which seem the same to me). My views have been minority views my whole life. That is, a minority within the United States, not within my community.

I’m more than happy to celebrate a diverse culture. I’ve been surrounded by progressives my whole life. I can say truthfully that very nearly every aging white male I know is a progressive. Please remember that as we wave good-bye to those who don’t embrace change.

[updated to correct the spelling of ‘gangnam’.]

Election

Steve Pearce sticks his thumb in Democrats’ eyes

In his column in the Albuquerque Journal, Steve Pearce reasserts that America’s woes come from the government and the Democrats. No mention of the corprotacracy that owns his party. And not one word about “rebuilding” anything.

ABQJournal Online » Thanks for Your Vote; Now, Let’s Rebuild America

Across the state, people have told me that the Democratic leaders controlling the White House and the Senate have moved away from the values they grew up with. ..

We are struggling, but we aren’t beaten. …

They simply want the freedom to work hard, to worship and live as they see fit and to take responsibility for their actions. I am confident that if Washington will give back the freedoms and bring back the manufacturing jobs we desperately need, we will hear stories of struggle turn into stories of success, and watch stories of fear become stories of hope.

ABQJournal Online » Thanks for Your Vote; Now, Let’s Rebuild America

AmeriCo is happy to give you the freedom to work hard. In fact, work yourself to death in an unregulated industry with no health care, retirement benefits, or rights. If you want a manufacturing job, don’t expect government to bring it back.

Election

Remembering 1968: a sympathy note to young Romney supporters

In 1968, my friend Dave Stilwell persuaded me to help him distribute campaign literature in support of Hubert Humphrey, one of the greatest public servants, in the campaign against Dick Nixon, history’s greatest villain. It was very difficult for me to work up the courage to walk through an unfamiliar neighborhood and approach a stranger’s door. I may have been rebuffed by someone or just still carry that fear 44 years later. When the villainous Dick won, all my effort seemed wasted. That was my first political involvement and disappointment, soon to be repeated in 1972 by the same dastard. (And again in 1980, 1984, 1988, 2000, and 2004.)

Don’t give up on your hopes and your belief in ideas or ideals. Never stop questioning candidates and supporting those who deserve your support. Get over your disappointment when you can and put your heart out there again and again. 

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." — Sam Adams