Stuart Jeanne Bramhall's Blog: The Most Revolutionary Act , page 1203
March 13, 2017
Union Busting the Uber Way
By the time the Teamsters starts organizing Uber drivers in Seattle next month, the ride-sharing company will have already spent a year fighting the effort.
The company has run advertisements against unionization in its app and on television, hosted meetings, and sent emails and phone calls to drivers. Its podcast for Seattle drivers, in which it hashes out arguments against joining a union, is already on its 18th episode.
“As I’m sure you know,” says Brooke Steger, the general manager for Uber in the Pacific Northwest, in episode 18 of Uber’s podcasts, “We at Uber do not believe the Teamsters can serve as a fair and effective representative for drivers.”
“Brooke, I agree,” responds a driver who is identified only as “Frederick” and uses the flat, steady tone of someone who is reading a script. “As a small business owner…I don’t want to hand over my flexibility and freedom to anybody, especially an organization that has fought so hard to keep Uber driver partners off the streets of Seattle.”
Steger has throughout the podcast’s run called the prospect of a union “very, very scary,” “super scary,” and “really, really scary.”
Anti-trust laws generally prohibit unions from organizing independent contractors, but Seattle passed a first-of-its-kind ordinance in late 2015 allowing collective bargaining of Uber and Lyft drivers. Teamsters local 117 got final approval March 3 to organize independent drivers who work for apps or taxi companies. Uber will now be required to hand over contact information for its drivers to the organizers, who have 120 days to gather support from those who joined the platform before Oct. 20, 2016, and have taken at least 52 rides within a three-month period.
“Companies are using the same old tricks,” says Dawn Gearhart, who works as a coordinator with the Seattle Teamsters chapter, but with Uber, privately valued at $68 billion, it’s “to a $70 billion extent.” Uber’s spending to fight the Teamsters, while unknown, appears large. The company even ran a television commercial during a Seattle Seahawks game warning against unionization. “I’ve never seen an anti-union podcast before. I’ve never seen anything about the Teamsters during a national football game,” Gearhart says. . .
DEA Admits Legal Marijuana is Doing What the Drug War Couldn’t in Decades
*
*
Marijuana growers in Mexico now face tough competition in the United States from legal growers in states who have decriminalized the drug. It’s now no longer worth smuggling marijuana into the U.S. The DEA confirms that marijuana smuggling to the US is significantly reduced. In fact the flow is starting to reverse – with marijuana produced in the United States being smuggled to Mexico.
By United States federal law, marijuana is illegal irrespective of the reason for its use. The government agency responsible for the regulation of drugs in the country, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), has refused to delist marijuana from Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act.
But despite the federal ban, states have made changes to their marijuana laws. During November 2016, marijuana won major ballot victories in states across the country.
Medical marijuana legalization, on the ballot in Florida, received a whopping 71% support from voters. Medical marijuana legalization also received massive endorsements in Arkansas and North Dakota. Voters in California, Nevada, Massachusetts and Maine also approved measures to legalize marijuana for recreational use in their territories.
The good news is that the legalization spree of the plant by states is yielding massive results. Apart from the fact that legal marijuana has resulted in creating new opportunities…
View original post 662 more words
March 12, 2017
New Evidence Confirms Cell Phone EMFs Are a Cancer Risk
*
*
Lawsuit forces CDC to release report about health risks of cellphones.
Critics worldwide have often accused those concerned about the connection between brain tumor and cell phone use as conspiracy theorists. Now, after a CDC report was released following a lawsuit to release the information, the truth about EMF risk is finally revealed.
The world very quickly came to realize, when the World Health Organization called glyphosate a “possible carcinogen” that mass market products available to the public were not always necessarily safe. Corporations, lobbying and government dictated final outcomes, often discrediting or largely ignoring the recommendations of world health bodies.
In the probably carcinogenic tradition, the WHO also labelled our cell phones with a similar warning. In 2011, now six years ago, the World Health Organization openly declared cell phone radiation as a cause for concern, classing the electromagnetic fields as “possibly carcinogenic to humans.” The research was conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer
View original post 619 more words
Smart meters can overbill by 582%
*
*
Besides increasing your risk of brain cancer and other health problems (Smart Meters emit up to 160 times more radiation than cellphones), they also charge customers for power they don’t actually use. According to a recent study, the overbilling results from power saving features – which introduce on-line noise that confuses the Smart Meter.
[image error] / CORY DOCTOROW / 1:46 PM SATMAR 11, 2017
Smart meters can overbill by 582%
A team from the University of Twente and the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences have published a paper demonstrating gross overbillings by smart energy meters, ranging from -32% to +582% of actual power consumption.
Ironically, the overbilling is largely an artifact of power-saving features, which introduce line-noise that confuses the meters.
Overall, five of the nine smart meters gave out readings much higher than the actual amount of power consumed, while two gave lower readings.
The greatest inaccuracies were seen when researchers combined dimmers with energy saving light bulbs and LED bulbs.
After finishing their lab experiment, researchers dismantled the smart meters to understand the problem. Following their efforts, the three-man research team discovered that smart meters which gave abnormally high readings used a Rogowski Coil in their setup, while the smart meters that…
View original post 44 more words
[image error]
The Inherent Right to Rebel
The Defense of Gracchus Babeuf
J A Scott
MW Books (1988)
Book Review
Babeuf’s speech available free on line at: Defense Speech
Babeuf was a whistleblower under Louis XVI, who in 1782 exposed corruption in the tax system imposed by the French aristocracy. He spent the years immediately preceding the French revolution (1789) either in hiding or in jail. On learning the Bastille had fallen, he joined the revolutionary struggle. In addition to launching a newspaper, he circulated numerous pamphlets and petitions calling for the abolition of private property and an end to the private expropriation of the commons and the division of society into exploited and exploiting classes.
In September 1792, he was elected to the revolutionary government, only to be arrested in 1795 by the counter-revolutionary forces that overthrew Robespierre. He was charged and found guilty of advocating for the re-establishment of the Constitution of 1793.
The book is the verbatim defense Babeuf presented to the court that sentenced him to death. He cites the writings of Plato, Sir Thomas Moore, Thomas Jefferson, Rousseau, Diderot and other Enlightenment thinkers to argue that human beings have a natural right to rebel against political and economic injustice and that violence, poverty and war all have their roots in the concept of private property.
He further argues that the natural function of society and social institutions is to protect the weak against the tyranny of the strong (whereas in reality they do the opposite). He contends that the 1789 revolution wasn’t complete because it allowed the wealth to continue to control all social power and government. He also (correctly) claimed that the election adopting the 1795 constitution was rigged and thus failed to represent the true will of the people.
For me the significance of Babeuf’s courtroom oration (which predated Marx by more than 60 years) was the surprising realization that Marx wasn’t the first to argue against the argue against the damage wealth inequality wreaks on society. It’s easy to forget that Karl Marx was but one of a long line of thinkers (which includes Thomas Jefferson and Adam Smith) who advocated against class exploitation.
March 11, 2017
Syria Petitions UN to Stop Turkish Aggression
*
*
Syria calls for the UN Secretary General and the Security Council to compel Turkey to withdraw its invading forces from Syrian territory immediately
FM: Syria calls for the Secretary – General of the United Nations and the Security Council to compel Turkey to withdraw its invading forces of Syrian territory immediately
Damascus , ( SANA )
It asked the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Security Council and the international community to oblige Turkey to withdraw its invading forces of the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic immediately and stop the attacks and maintain security and stability in the region and the world.
And it came in identical letters their destination Ministry Secretary-General of the United Nations and the President of the Security Council SANA received a copy of them today .. Turkish regime forces pursued during the last days aggressions treacherous on the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic and the inviolability of its territory, in flagrant violation of the UN Charter and the principle of good…
View original post 402 more words
Join us this March in Taranaki
*
*
Only 9 days to go.
March 2017 is shaping up to be an exciting month for us here in Taranaki!
From 5-26th March is the Frack Off Exhibition, featuring a diversity of local artists’ and writers at the JD Reid Gallery. You can have a glimpse here, and check out their ‘Now we’re talking program‘.
From 21-23rd March, CJT and other members of a growing coalition will be holding the People’s Climate Rally in New Plymouth.
On Tuesday 21 March, we start with a powhiri and Non-violent Direct Action training at 2 pm at Owae Marae in Waitara.
On Wednesday 22 March, we begin our rally at 8 am at the Clock Tower on Devon Street, with musicians and speakers on climate change, fossil fuel extraction and social justice. The Government will release the 2017 Block Offer for oil and gas exploration at the TSB Showplace, venue of the 2017 Petroleum Conference
View original post 181 more words
Landmark Bill Introduced In Congress Would Legalize Cannabis On Federal Level
*
*
In an effort to push back against repressive federal control of marijuana policy, bipartisan legislation was introduced in Congress by representatives Tom Garrett (R-VA) and Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) to exclude cannabis from the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), which absurdly lists marijuana as a Schedule 1 substance — a classification that denotes a substance being dangerous and having no known medicinal value.
By Jay Syrmopoulos via The Free Thought Project, Thanks to Truth Theory
Washington, D.C. – In an effort to push back against repressive federal control of marijuana policy, bipartisan legislation was introduced in Congress by representatives Tom Garrett (R-VA) and Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) to exclude cannabis from the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), which absurdly lists marijuana as a Schedule 1 substance — a classification that denotes a substance being dangerous and having no known medicinal value.
Passage of this legislation would provide states with the exclusive authority to regulate marijuana how they see fit – without the ominous threat of federal criminalization. In a prepared statement, Rep. Garrett explained that states are “more than capable” of deciding what policies best benefit their own citizens – without the need for federal oversight. If passed, this bill would take marijuana off the federal controlled substances list – joining other…
View original post 587 more words
March 10, 2017
Probiotics In Yogurt Reverse Depression Symptoms
*
*
Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have reversed depression symptoms in mice by feeding them Lactobacillus, a probiotic bacteria found in live-cultures yogurt. Further, they have discovered a specific mechanism for how the bacteria affect mood, providing a direct link between the health of the gut microbiome and mental health.
by Mae Chan, PreventDisease.com
Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have reversed depression symptoms in mice by feeding them Lactobacillus, a probiotic bacteria found in live-cultures yogurt. Further, they have discovered a specific mechanism for how the bacteria affect mood, providing a direct link between the health of the gut microbiome and mental health.
There are over 400 species of bacteria in your belly right now that can be the key to health or disease.
Broken down, the word probiotic means “for life” or “promoting life.” While it sounds good, you still may wonder: are probiotics just another gimmick, or is there some science behind mental health benefits?
Based on their findings, the researchers are optimistic that their discovery will hold true in people and are planning to confirm their findings in patients with depression.
“The big hope for this kind of research is that we…
View original post 620 more words
There are 5,000 Janitors in the U.S. with PhDs
*
*
And all of them are still paying off massive student loans for their worthless degrees.
Over 317,000 waiters and waitresses have college degrees (over 8,000 of them have doctoral or professional degrees), along with over 80,000 bartenders, and over 18,000 parking lot attendants. All told, some 17,000,000 Americans with college degrees are doing jobs that the BLS says require less than the skill levels associated with a bachelor’s degree.
Charles Murray’s thesis that an increasing number of people attending college do not have the cognitive abilities or other attributes usually necessary for success at higher levels of learning. As more and more try to attend colleges, either college degrees will be watered down or drop-out rates will rise.
Putting issues of student abilities aside, the growing disconnect between labor market realities and the propaganda of higher-education apologists is causing more and more people to graduate and take menial jobs or no job at all. This is even true at the doctoral and professional level—there are…
View original post 200 more words
The Most Revolutionary Act
- Stuart Jeanne Bramhall's profile
- 11 followers
![[image error]](https://stuartbramhall.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/babeuf.jpg){kind=link}