|
|
|
Letters to the Editor
SEIU and Egg-Throwing; Annise Parker and Openly Gay Candidates; More on Hotel Strikes; The Pope and Extra-Terrestrials; IBEW Local 1245 ...
Nov. 20‚ 2009
To the Editor:
What evidence do you have that "SEIU threw eggs," rather than NUHW staff, blaming SEIU? And why the anonymous "report" of an organizer being "roughed up"? Thanks.
Joe McLaughlin
To the Editor:
America has not learned anything from her past. This open discrimination just because who Annise Parker is and nothing else. The Republicans need to stop attacking people based on if they are gay or lesbian or transgender. We talked about freedom, but if anyone from the LGBT community take a stand and run for public office then the table is turn to bring them down. Who gives a damn if she is lesbian, as long as she can get the job of Houston Mayor done.
Jazzie Collins
San Francisco
To the Editor:
Sadly, disinformation is a two-way street. Back in 1979, when Harry Britt was running against Terry Hallinan for the supervisor of the 5th district, Harry's campaign put OUT a folded brochure. On the front it asked the question "WHO NEEDS A GAY SUPERVISOR?" and on the inside "WE DO!" Can you imagine how the gay community would have responded had Terry's campaign put out a brochure that read ... "WHO NEEDS A STRAIGHT SUPERVISOR? WE DO!"
Let's face it ... Politics hasn't changed much over the years. No matter if the subject is religion, sexual preferences or Swift- Boats ... When was the last time that a campaign brochure caused you to change your mind for or against a candidate? Here we are, in the 21 Century ... and instead of electing candidates based on their records ... it's the same old thing ... voting against someone, rather than for someone.
Jerry Pritikin
Chicago
To the Editor:
I think the idea of hotel strikes is seriously idiotic. I have spoken with many union people, and the majority of them do not want to strike mainly because they have a family to support and while striking they get paid meager wages to cover what cost? I think like 50 bucks a week, and this goes to those who have a mortgage, family, children.
And yet the union does not see the little things that need to take place. Also they say it was 92% that supported a strike and yet it was only the union who counted the votes, there was no representative for non-union or a non partisan party. So I think it was a rigged tally. The union makes management seem bad, takes money from them and offers little in return, and talks bad about everything the company represents only to keep those associates at mediocrity.
Lets face it, this world would do much better without the back stabbing union. There are too many rules in this world that a company must abide by to abuse people in the work place. Sacrifices must be made in order for a company to go forth and if the needs are met for the union workers and a company goes under because the union always has their hand out, than more than a small cut will take place when the entire company goes under.
Dan Westing
To the Editor:
Not saying he's wrong; rather hope he's right, but Pope Benedict XVI also believes in nuclear power for peace, and Catholicism's civilizing effect on indigenous peoples of Latin America. So, I have to wonder whether he's considered the possibility of a superior civilization out there, which wouldn't take much.
Ann Garrison
San Francisco
To the Editor:
Fired up and Ready to Go!! IBEW1245 is preparing for an "Informational" Picket and Candlelight Rally Thursday 11/19/09 3-6:30pm at the 1 Ohm Place facility of NVEnergy in Reno, NV protecting our Benefits and Retirees from NVEnergy's Broken Promises! We are expecting approximately 300 Retirees, active employees and local leaders to walk and talk the line! Please support IBEW1245! 400 signs ready to go!
Mickie Baryol
You can submit letters to the editor by clicking on this link: feedback@beyondchron.org or by writing to:
Beyond Chron
126 Hyde Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-771-9850 (phone)
More on SEIU's Tactics; San Francisco Composting Program; Disabled Access and Historic Preservation Commission ...
Nov. 19‚ 2009
To the Editor:
SEIU's tactics and bullying approaches against anyone that disagrees with Andy Stern's undemocratic rule are not new. Remember the Labor Notes conference in Pittsburgh, wherein Mr. Stern's thugs attacked the innocent union delegates inside the banquet hall that killed one person?
Peace-loving labor leaders and members around the country should condemn this kind of action. This will only turn off unorganized new young workers that entering the labor force. Make Mr. Stern accountable to this shameful act! Violence begets violence. SEIU looks desperate because NUHW has made some groundbreaking victories.
Andres Bonifacio
To the Editor:
A great idea, but it comes with a big question mark -- do we know what goes into our compost? Is a cookie or chicken bone full of antibiotics and heaven knows what other chemicals a compostable item? How about the question of hygiene? Having a bin full compost for a whole week will generate a lot of bacteria and mold. Do tissues full of mucus(viruses) go into our compost? Do we know how to keep those virulent agents at bay?
Do we have the time and energy to keep up with the cleaning? The greatest idea would be to consume a lot less and produce a lot less than the waste we generate. I see so much vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains, bread items, canned food, etc. go to waste due to overproduction.
Nafiss Griffis
San Francisco
To the Editor:
Bob Planthold is right on all points. If the Historic Preservation Commission's handling of current library branch renovations is an example of their power to interfere with areas that are not historic, we are in for tough times. HPC bears a close watch, and since their minutes are rarely available then good luck to transparency.
Charles Moody
You can submit letters to the editor by clicking on this link: feedback@beyondchron.org or by writing to:
Beyond Chron
126 Hyde Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-771-9850 (phone)
More SEIU Shenanigans; Thoughts on Jerry Brown; Washington DC Catholic Archdiocese; More Outrage Against the New York Times; More from the Elsbernd Family ...
Nov. 18‚ 2009
To the Editor:
It looks like SEIU has dug its own grave in the state of California. SEIU's war against the labor movement and progressives should leave no doubt that Andy Stern's battle plan against home healthcare and healthcare workers in general is losing ground. In fact, SEIU has become so alienated with progressives and working families that its own members are increasingly becoming dissolutioned with its leadership.
The SEIU and its president, Andy Stern, has been under scrutiny because of its dealings with Blagojevich in Illinois and its raiding practices of other locals, as well as its attacks against the rest of the labor movement and progressives across the country.
NUHW will definitely defeat SEIU once its frivolous charges with the NLRB and the PERB have been dismissed. Healthcare and homecare workers in California will finally have a chance to vote for REAL representation. Your dues monies will finally be going for good use and not for the purpose of attacking the labor movement and progressives.
Francisco Martinez
To the Editor:
While I still have friends among SEIU's leadership, this turn of events has me baffled. In short, why do this?
I can understand Andy Stern's bitterness and a sense of betrayal over the UHW, now NUHW. But that anger doesn't translate into a quixotic campaign against much of organized labor. Or, I guess it does, but where they'll get their support from is beyond me. If they have a case beyond sheer animus, they haven't made it very well. I think a face-saving retreat is in order. I certainly don't want to put SEIU on my enemies list.
However, I'm not sure we can blame Stern and SEIU for UnionFacts' opportunism. I can assure you if it weren't this, it would be something else -- or nothing.
Alec Dubro
To the Editor:
Powerful, well written even if the slant of the writer is painfully obvious. The inclusion of verifiable facts is the saving grace. This story is getting very little coverage beyond the "NUHW stole members money" angle in any East Coast local.
NUHW is telling a compelling story, even after wading through the rhetoric, but SEIU and yes, Andy Stern, have undeniably done great things for the labor movement.
I will continue to follow the story and try to report both the facts and my take on them as I see it. BeyondChron is doing labor a service by providing a voice and a focus for discussion. Discussion can only serve democracy.
Tom Maher
http://WWW.UnionMaine.BlogSpot.com
To the Editor:
Back in the day then-Governor Jerry Brown managed to avoid the issue of renters' rebates, requiring that landlords share their Proposition 13 tax savings with their tenants, by claiming that such rebates were a local issue. And then when he was Mayor of Oakland, affordable housing was not a local issue, but one for the state and federal governments. Brown is consistent -- responsibility for the issues of affordable housing and tenants' rights are always somewhere he isn't.
Alison Brennan
To the Editor:
Funny that divorced Catholics who remarry also have marriages that are considered illicit under Roman Catholic law, yet I've never heard the Archdiocese or Catholic Charities say "boo!" about extending benefits or adoption services to such couples. If the Archdiocese is really afraid of supporting illicit marriages, then they better really, really be afraid of those divorced and remarried folks, since they look like traditional Catholic couples blessed by the church. Talk about cafeteria Catholicism!
Ed Quinan
To the Editor:
As a gay married man, California 10/14/08, my marriage has no effect on the church. I was married in the City Hall to the man I have been with for 20 years at the time. Nothing changed. The world didn't end. I am grateful for the chance to make my love a legal commitment.
I didn't ask for the church's blessing, nor do I care. My husband and I are very well educated and deserve all the happiness that other people have and now we do. I can't wait for the people of DC to really get the same chance.
Keep the church out of my bedroom as I am keeping my bedroom out of the church. That is what this great, and I do mean great, country was founded on. Separation of church and state. My marriage doesn't have anything to do with straight marriage. Just happiness for my husband and me. YOU GO, D.C.!
Robert Kevin Souther
To the Editor:
Great big thanks to Catania and Mendelson! They stood up, loud and proud, against religious fascism, and they couldn't have been more eloquent. We need more leaders like them who will stop discrimination dead in its tracks. They effectively held up a mirror to the head Catholic bigot, and he clearly doesn't like his own reflection!
Flex Colby
To the Editor:
I cannot believe the New York Times thinks we Americans are being overpaid. OK, lower our wages, but how about if the Corporations lower their prices, less for food, less for homes, less for gas, less for clothes, but right now a family can't afford to buy decent, food, clothing or sometime enought gas to get to work, so many are being laid off now, people are losing their homes and cars. What is the idea to go back to the days of the robber barons, or are we becoming a third world country?
Nancy Hilliard
To the Editor:
I am Joe Elsbernd's older brother. This is an excellent tribute. Thank you. Should you need to contact me, my email is below. We have many memories, but Joe was the "memory keeper."
Bill Elsbernd
You can submit letters to the editor by clicking on this link: feedback@beyondchron.org or by writing to:
Beyond Chron
126 Hyde Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-771-9850 (phone)
Joe Elsbernd's Family; The Wages of American Workers; Mission Community Organization; Film Review of "Precious"; Muni's Future; Campos Immigration Policy ...
Nov. 17‚ 2009
Dear Randy Shaw:
I am Joe Elsbernd's cousin. My mother, Isma Cochran, is his mother's sister. When Joe was talking to you, he was also asking my mom for her recollections. She had none at the time.
After reading this article, she told me she wondered if Joe or you knew that when Joe's Grandpa bought the 222 Hyde property, it had been a brothel. The upstairs was full of little one bedrooms. Grandpa had it remodeled into two apartments which Joe's family and our grandparents occupied. Occasionally the doorbell would ring late at night and someone would holler "Is Mary working tonight?"
Over 300 folks attended services for Joe at St Paul's Church on Valley street on Saturday. There were 12 priests, a bishop, the mayor, many uniformed students from St Thomas More and a bagpiper. Joe would have loved it.
Thank you for this very thoughtful article. Mom is 86 and going strong-living next door to us here in Rossmoor.
Sincerely,
Linda Herron
To the Editor:
It's ridiculous. Are you serious, New York Times? How can you say with a straight face that American workers are being paid too much? I think these Times reporters should seek some kind of help, because their statements are just sick.
Randy Shaw is correct. Instead of taking the corporations' position that workers are overpaid, they should be demanding that the bosses salaries and bonuses should be downsized.
Francisco Martinez
To the Editor:
Indeed, Americans have become complacent and entitled. Compared to those who endured the Great Depression, we are profligate spenders incapable of frugality. We demand more income for our increasing debt to satisfy an insatiable demand for all things material. It's as if life on Real Housewives of New Jersey has become reality for many.
Union workers are not alone in being over-compensated; professional athletes, celebrities, executives and specialist physicians are as well. We are nation buried in debt and living far beyond our means. The Great Recession will inevitably lead to the Great Contraction as wages, of necessity, will have to decline for many. Don't rush out and buy that BMW now, there will soon be a surplus on the used car lot.
Michael Patmas
To the Editor:
Interesting review of what sounds like an important book. If it is true that Mike Miller does not address class tensions in the Mission Community Organization (MCO), that is a fatal flaw.
Also, thanks reminding us of an important critique of nonprofit organizing: the problem of patronage. It is a difficult thing to criticize nonprofits without somehow being seen as right-wing. But its hard not to notice how ineffective S.F. nonprofits are these days. I have personally felt that militance with regard especially to housing issues, especially if one's ideas about strategy differ from that of the directors, is a sure way of being excluded from this type of activism.
Gerrard Winstanley
To the Editor:
In my life, I have seen so many movies -- but "Precious" is the only one that would not get out of my head. It kept me haunting me every day, and I'm still not sure why.
J. Gister
To the Editor:
How does eliminating Muni bus routes compromise with raising the price to assure the reliability of public transit?
In my opinion, we are all struggling to make ends meet while Muni gets rich.
Araceli Smith
Paul, your article does not address the issue of federal vs. local immigration law. Regardless of whether David Campos' bill does the right thing for immigrant youth, it ignores federal law by extending the City's sanctuary policy to those charged with a felony. Even City Attorney Dennis Herrera is concerned about prosecution of the City's police officers by federal courts.
Will the City Supervisors stand behind our officers? I have not seen any statements from Campos on this. If Herrera & Newsom's comments are not valid, then please include them in your article and present arguments against them.
Erik Nehls
San Francisco
You can submit letters to the editor by clicking on this link: feedback@beyondchron.org or by writing to:
Beyond Chron
126 Hyde Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-771-9850 (phone)
Hyatt Hotel Workers; SF Student Assignment Process; Palace Hotel Strike ...
Nov. 16‚ 2009
To the Editor:
What was Hyatt thinking in firing the housekeepers? What's more important, the bottom line or the moral line?
Al Haimowitz
To the Editor:
How can the student assignment process be continuing as scheduled when it was to have been in place for the present 2009-2010 school year?
The SF Board of Education says it wants diversity, but how does it intend to send poor kids across town without adequate busing? Forced marches? And who would want to send their kid across town? A few maybe.
The community meetings are only a facade put forth to create the impression of collaboration. Expect more lotto style rolling of the dice and shuffling of the deck until we have leaders who want to teach rather than play musical chairs. Our leaders want to revert to the mean, statistically speaking. What a game for dullards.
Sylvan Brillian
San Francisco
To the Editor:
President Mike Casey with his already hoarse voice, was unabated chanting on the bull horn late at night spurring us on the picket line to continue till midnight, the coda of the three-day strategic strike. The Palace Hotel, by its location next to the Academy of Art is an excellent target for our strike.
Many youth from the Academy were mesmerized by the picket. Some joined the picket line momentarily, others filmed the event intently. We exchanged some discussions about the notion of the Union and they took notice. The picket was a double lesson to the greedy hotel and to the youth who were encountering a Union in action for the first time.
Alas with this age of electronics that is to the advantage of the corporate world many guests book their hotels in advance, and they would not have booked the Palace had they known about the strike. Given the economic realities of people, they would rather cross the picket line than search for another hotel or go through the bureaucratic headache of getting a refund.
Sometimes, you can't find another hotel. So here it is a delicate line for the Union. When we declare a strategic strike impromptu, we need to be sensitive to the guests who are sympathetic to our cause but who have no other way to avoid crossing the picket line, like a guest from France who didn't know that the hotel was on strike, but he impossibly had no way to maneuver given his budget.
Those who show arrogance we must shower them with "Don't check in, check out", "Scum bags", etc. It would be an ideal situation if the Union could find a way to divulge which hotels are on strike at the international level. This is said, we must not genuflect for any situation once the Rubicon is crossed. Once the picket line is on the move war is declared, and we should spare no weapons in our
store.
A guest was mad, she approached me to tell me that we are so disrespectful for making her three day stay hellish. She said that the scabs stole some of her belonging. She blamed us for it. Alas, it is easy for her to blame the Union since we are visible, but not the invisible malice of the corporate world, e.g. the Palace.
Adam Smith knew well the difficult road ahead of the Union. He said that when the workers combine to ask for their rights they have no other means but to be raucous, while the bosses combine in secret chambers to do their deeds. The former are visible to the masses, the latter are hidden.
Naffis Griffis
San Francisco
You can submit letters to the editor by clicking on this link: feedback@beyondchron.org or by writing to:
Beyond Chron
126 Hyde Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-771-9850 (phone)
"Precious" Film Review; State IHSS Cuts; Public Transit Funding ...
Nov. 13‚ 2009
To the Editor:
Re: the film review of "Precious,"I am very sad that this type of stuff does happen to a lot of people. I am an alternative school teacher and a foster parent and I deal with the same thing with the schools and my students dealt with the same thing also. This is a very moving story and movie. It is about time that some one is speaking up for the ones that are scared!!!
Ricky Kearn
To the Editor:
My timing on getting help for my 93 year old mother can't be worse. I'm waiting for a Medi-Cal appointment to be approved, so I can try to get her help in the home with bathing, dressing, cooking, eating and shopping. Now a gauntlet of background checks, fingerprinting time cards, service cuts, no optional benefits are all but freezing out her care hopes. Meanwhile, the legislature votes themselves pay increases, and their "special elite government health plans." What can we do to halt this bureaucracy of fools from destroying our health support systems for the most vulnerable among us?
Al Bourdet
To the Editor:
I really encourage San Francisco politicians when they are in Washington D.C. to ride the wonderful METRO, so that they can have an idea of the beauty of Mass Transit which is directly lacking in this city. Washington D.C. METRO is a tourist attraction by itself.
We must lobby our politicians to block any fare increase for such an inefficient transit system like San Francisco's. Just last week, I lost a day of wages and the risk of losing Medical coverage, since I need to work a specific number of shifts to qualify, due to MUNI's delays. I waited 45 minutes at West Portal for my train.
It is an insult to throw billions of tax dollars at cars, failed banks, the military, but starve our Public Transit. MUNI and our politicians are so myopic to think that token payments of fares will salvage our dysfunctional transit. We the riders must raise our voices to possibly one day in the far future have a decent METRO for the next generation.
Nafiss Griffis
San Francisco
You can submit letters to the editor by clicking on this link: feedback@beyondchron.org or by writing to:
Beyond Chron
126 Hyde Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-771-9850 (phone)
Palace Hotel Details; Gavin Newsom's Power; Dennis Kucinich's Principles; More on Local 2 ...
Nov. 12‚ 2009
To the Editor:
I've worked for a couple of Sheraton Hotels and my understanding is that Starwood doesn't own any Sheraton (the Palace Hotel's correct name is the Sheraton Palace Hotel) properties at all (possibly a couple overseas).
What Starwood owns is the brand; it's the franchisor. Cerberus either owns the property or just manages it, or possibly both. These hotel deals can be fairly tricky. In any event the onus for this should be placed on Cerberus, not on Starwood. I am not presently employed by Starwood, by the way.
I don't care if you publish this, but you might want to check what I've said and correct the article, if appropriate. Love your site.
Ken Clark
To the Editor:
I think it is time to consider a move from a "strong dictator," I mean "mayor," form of government to a "strong board" government. I do not care if a progressive or reactionary is Mayor -- it is more democratic.
Mark Barnes
San Francisco
To the Editor:
This is nothing new. We all know that Mayor Gavin Newsom will not do the right thing. By spending the new funding on saving health care worker jobs or any programs that deal with poor people altogether. This Mayor have no heart, and only care about protecting the downtown workforces who are his friends. Poor people with bad health don't matter to him they are not on his rader right now. That's why he will fight the Board of Supervisors anyway he can.
Jazzie Collins
San Francisco
To the Editor:
It would sadden me more if the Mayor were to ignore his oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution, which clearly states that federal law trumps any local ordinance. 8 USC 1373 prohibits the mayor from preventing any local official, including public safety officers, from reporting illegal aliens to the ICE. Maybe David Campos didn't take constitutional law at Harvard, as he somehow seems to think that the Board of Supervisors is superior to the U.S. Congress & not the other way around.
Colin Gallagher
To the Editor:
Rep. Kucinich is absolutely correct. We need a single-payer plan, perhaps modeled on the current Medicare program. ALL United States' citizens need and deserve to be assisted in health care. A democracy needs healthy, fed, clothed, housed and educated constituents, otherwise it is not a democracy, nor a true republic!
Doug Morrisey
To the Editor:
Out of everyone in Congress, Dennis Kucinich is the only one standing for health care. Every one else is for 'health insurance.' Health insurance executives can afford the costs of getting someone re-elected to their seat b/c they charge 30% administrative costs. They pay for lobbyists in every state and in congress. 'Single Payer / Medicare For All charges 3% costs and they cover the end stages of life. Think how much more efficient they would be if it covered everyone.
Jean Harrington
To the Editor:
Regarding Tommi Avicolli-Mecca's article on Rep. Dennis Kucinich's "no" vote on the House version of the health care reform bill: I agree that the House bill is far from perfect, but realistically Kucinich's version would never have passed and health care reform would be off the table for another decade or two. And the House version may not make it through the Senate.
Why couldn't a better health care reform bill pass? Because of the Blue Dog Democrats in the House and Senate. There are 435 Representatives with 257 Democrats and 178 Republicans. Of the 257, 56 are a coalition of conservative Blue Dog Democrats and without them, the Democrats do not have a majority. The Democrats needed 218 votes to pass the bill and just managed 220.
In the Senate, there are 58 Democratic Senators with Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders officially listed as Independent, but usually caucus with the Democrats, giving them 60 votes. Of these, there are 15 to 20 Blue Dog Democrats. Without them, the Democrats in the Senate do not have a majority. And Senator Joe Lieberman recently said he would join a Republican filibuster of any health care legislation that includes a public option, leaving the Democrats one short to defeat a filibuster.
I would have preferred Kucinich's ideal version of a health care bill, but to me a half loaf of bread is better than no bread at all.
Ralph E. Stone
San Francisco
To the Editor:
I support the workers. Businesses will be doing this as they love high unemployment numbers.
Let us hear it for Local 2.
Robert Kolbe
To the Editor:
Local 2 is a complete joke and has never done anything to benefit its members. I worked in SF during their last negotiation when the employees were locked out ... over a year later they were still working without a contract ... if they would have taken the original deal they would have been ahead of where they eventually ended up.
Staging strikes does nothing but hurt tourism in the city and is absolutely the wrong way to go. Walking out on the Palace when it is full of group business just hurts all those people protesting because those groups translate to work hours and those groups will NEVER come back. The state of CA has so many laws to protect the employee - they should all cross the picket lines and dump Local 2.
STOP THE BRAIN WASHING! SHAME ON LOCAL 2!
Chris Anderson
To the Editor:
The unions in this city are the worst. They have committed atrocious crimes in reeking havoc on this city. At this time of economic demise, they are only making it worse.
This is a very biased article. It uses data, but completely without context and compares apples and oranges. Nowhere in this article do you state the extent to which healthcare costs have climbed. Most of us in the private sector have had to pony up and pay for these increases ourselves.
At a time when unemployment is over 10%, people should thank their lucky starts to have a job. Having a job is not a right. It is a privilege. Nobody is forcing these union workers to stay at their job. They can and should leave because there's a long line of unemployed who would be more than happy to take their jobs.
Jack Johnson
San Francisco
To the Editor:
Darn. We've been trying to destroy public education in the United States PRECISECLY BECAUSE we don't want union members to be able to do the math. So they noticed their average salaries are around $30,000 annually ... while we just walked away with a $1,000,000,000 in stock payouts. Fine. But we'll get them eventually ... they won't know a billion from a bean if we get one more Republican in the Governor's Mansion ... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Rondey Richpigge
You can submit letters to the editor by clicking on this link: feedback@beyondchron.org or by writing to:
Beyond Chron
126 Hyde Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-771-9850 (phone)
Newsom and SPUR; "Green" Supermarkets ...
Nov. 11‚ 2009
To the Editor:
I don't mind Gavin Newsom spurning SPUR. Actually, his absence was a great blow dealt to their superego. At least Newsom has something in common with Gonzalez, i.e. he slowed development a little bit. Let's wish that SPUR would have some sense this time to endorse someone like the President of the Board.
Nafiss Griffis
San Francisco
To the Editor:
It's so hypocritical how supermarket chains market their food and products as "organic," "sustainable" and "green," and yet they refuse to adopt greener, safer cleaning practices to protect their own workers and customers. Learn more about what's going on at http://supermarketsafety.net.
Rachele Huennekens
SEIU Local 1877
You can submit letters to the editor by clicking on this link: feedback@beyondchron.org or by writing to:
Beyond Chron
126 Hyde Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-771-9850 (phone)
Would Gonzalez Have Been Better?; Hotel Worker Salaries; Muni's TEP Project; Robert Becker Responds ...
Nov. 10‚ 2009
To the Editor:
To answer your question: Yes, the business community should have backed Gonzalez over Newsom for Mayor in 2003.
Jane Somerville
To the Editor:
He couldn't have done a worse job than Newsom.
Terry Teigh
To the Editor:
Are you serious??? $30,000 salaries ... where do you get your facts ... or do they even matter??? The average housekeeper in San Francisco makes more than $45,000 a year.
Let's talk the rich in SF hotels ... ask a banquet waiter that makes more than $100,000 plus a year who the real poor are ... ask a doorman in SF who pulled more than $80,000 a year in cash tips who the poor are ... your reporting is slipshod at best, and may as well been written by local 2's PR company ... Get your facts straight ... then let's see what you write.
Love to see you print this ... and if you doubt any of this readers ... just ask for a copy of the local 2 contract and compare it to your own paycheck.
Harry Reid
New York City
To the Editor:
Muni's Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP) has never addressed the core issue -- absenteeism / not outs. For instance, Sunday PM 5 9 or 9x's were not sent out. Renumbering them as 9L's doesn't make them any more likely to actually show up.
David Vartanoff
Oakland, CA
Dear Dave Mundy:
Thanks for your response, suggesting your Texas Nationalist Movement doesn't formally endorse the anti-Americanism of Larry Kilgore, who just "happened to speak" at your major rally. Too bad you disregarded all the most interesting points: what is your actual relationship, where do you disagree, and why did you give him a big platform to state his offensive hatreds? Are you and your buddies going to vote for someone else? I made no claims about whether you and Kilgore worked hand in glove, only that he expressed, with your organization support, "virulent" scorn for my country.
Let me reassure you I don't "virulently hate" Teabaggers, though I know them to be joined at the hip with rightwing Republicans, with last week's co-sponsorship of their protest in Washington verifying this fact.
On point, your web mission statement clarifies the irreconcilable differences between us: you militate for the "independence of the nation of Texas." That phantom "nation" hasn't existed since the 1840's so I consider it either delusion or sedition, certainly qualifying as anti-Americanism, the main point I made.
What if you got a majority in Texas to endorse secession? How would you then avoid the inevitable resistance, likely armed insurrection, as no American president I can imagine would passively stand by for an illegal "nation" declared within our national borders. Are you claiming 175 years of statehood was never legal, as if you're a sovereign nation like Native Americans? On what long-term, historic basis? Thus, while I don't hate you for opposing Washington, even may agree in my terms Bush and Cheney "ruled," didn't legally govern, I appreciate the nature of your beast.
For me, Texas' word of honor is on the line, the collective agreement to join the U.S. Why, if you succeeded, others would follow, and I think we've been there before. So, the next time you write, explain how you are not committing a kind of sedition, that one may aptly call anti-American. Quite separately from anything I could say, you're not playing "nice" because what you are proposing, lock, stock, and barrel, is not nice, a menacing shot across the bow – what I thought the Civil War clarified for all time. No one stops you from buying a desert island somewhere and setting up your own campsite.
Robert Becker
anti-secessionist
You can submit letters to the editor by clicking on this link: feedback@beyondchron.org or by writing to:
Beyond Chron
126 Hyde Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-771-9850 (phone)
On Why Question 1 Passed; In Praise of Local 2; Texas Nationalists Strike Back ...
Nov. 09‚ 2009
To the Editor:
Thanks for your coverage of Maine. Here's two more things to keep in mind about the state. One is that there were three people's vetoes about non-discrimination. Why three? Because the people's veto passed twice, each time removing the sexual orientation provision from the anti-discrimination law. The 2005 vote, when No prevailed by ten points, came after years and the other two votes. So Mainers can change.
Of course part of that change is population change, which brings me to my second point. The areas of Maine where population are growing are strong No territory, particularly southern and midcoast Maine. Northern and downeast Maine, where Yes racked up big votes, are losing population and are older. Demography is destiny, making marriage rights are foregone conclusion in Maine within the decade.
What that means for California and elsewhere I'm not sure. But I know the Pine Tree State will get there.
Amy Fried
University of Maine
To the Editor:
To suggest it was "age" and not "religion" misses the reality that age is religion. Religion, with 1,500 installations across the State also has a very effective mechanism to get the vote out. Plus, it is theoretically God that is asking them to vote. You can't top that.
From a distance, it appears that getting the vote out is what determined our fate. We didn't get enough people to act on our behalf.
Maine is certainly for "equality," but the word "marriage" always skews the results. People - religious or not - believe religion (God) invented marriage. Of course, it didn't - but, you can't win that argument.
If there is a next time - I would suggest more emphasis on the word "equality" and less emphasis on the word "marriage." We would have won if voters believed it was about equality.
Andrew W.
To the Editor:
Very well put. I definitely agree with your friend, that we the LGBT community need to talk about how current "education" is killing kids. Our opponents aren't going to drop the schools issue, so we're never going to win at the ballot box until we reframe it.
Matt Baume
San Francisco
To the Editor:
Right here in the Bay Area, a protester on El Camino Real in Palo Alto held a sign saying "STOP TEACHING KIDS QUEER SEX." He's referring to anti-bullying, age-appropriate curriculum that teaches (1) gay people (along with black, Hispanic, Asian, disabled and other "different" people) exist and (2) don't beat them up and call them names.
They equate this with teaching them "queer sex." It's infantile, it's hateful, it's disingenuous at best, bigoted at worst, and they will always play the card when logic and reason fail.
Joe Carlin
To the Editor:
What homosexuals (why "gay"?) do in and to their lives is not my concern. Nor are the legal rights accompanying citizenship.
But why should they presume to redefine a word? Marriage is and has been clearly defined for millennia. A pelican cannot wish himself to be a dolphin, and the latter cannot fly despite referenda or protest.
Fred Westervelt
To the Editor:
Mike Casey and Local 2 are showing the hotel owners that they mean business. As a union member myself, I applaud Local 2's decision to strike for three days at the Grand Hyatt. Organized labor's greatest weapon is to strike when management refuses to negotiate in good faith or when wages and benefits are being lowered so much that people can't even earn a living wage.
Local 2 rising!
Francisco Martinez
To the Editor:
Big trans-national corporations like the Hyatt Hotels exploited the present "economic" situation by suppressing workers' wages and benefits even though the hotel industry is making millions of profits over the last five years. I applaud President Mike Casey and the entire HERE-UNITE Local 2 leaders and members for fighting back and by showing to the whole labor community that a strike is still an effective weapon against management. Unlike Andy Stern of SEIU whose modus operandi is to collaborate with employers at the expense of its own members. That's pathetic!
Andres Bonifacio
Dear Robert Becker:
You ask why "fringe" groups are so "virulent and hateful," then use the same tactics you accuse them of: hateful speech, demeaning their concerns, belittling the solutions they offer. And you wonder why they won't play nice?
I am the press coordinator for the Texas Nationalist Movement. I spend so much of my time debunking the misconceptions published about our organization it has ceased to be amusing. For your edification:
(1) The TNM has not and will not endorse Larry Kilgore, nor is he an officer within our movement. He is running for Governor as a Republican. He happened to speak at a rally organized by another group in which TNM played a role -- hence its name, Sovereignty or Secession. Fellow gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina also spoke at the rally, while all other announced candidates at the time, including Gov. Perry, were invited but declined.
Likewise, Perry has attempted to distance himself from his comments on Texas' right to secede, which doesn't surprise us since he made them thinking he could win "conservative" votes; since we're not necessarily "conservative," his tactic didn't work.
(2) The Tea Party movement you hate so virulently has similarly distanced itself from attempts by Republicans to associate themselves with it.
(3) The Texas Nationalist Movement began in the 1990s; it didn't magically appear last Novemeber. Our organization has only one agenda: giving the voters of Texas a choice whether or not to withdraw from the Union and form their own independent government. We invite and accept members from every segment of the population -- every political persuasion, every race and ethnicity, every religious belief or non-belief, every personal orientation.
(4) We support the independence of Texas because the government of the United States has exceeded its constitutional authority; instead of GOVERNING, it seeks to RULE. So if you were to apply a term to describe us, the most accurate would be "non-statist," since we are opposed to the increasing power of the federal government, whether it be Republicans or Democrats in charge.
I would be quite happy to discuss any of the issues surrounding Texas and the TNM with you or any other member of the media or blogger.
Dave Mundy
You can submit letters to the editor by clicking on this link: feedback@beyondchron.org or by writing to:
Beyond Chron
126 Hyde Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-771-9850 (phone)
Nov. 18, 2009 -- More SEIU Shenanigans; Thoughts on Jerry Brown; Washington DC Catholic Archdiocese; More Outrage Against the New York Times; More from the Elsbernd Family ...
Nov. 17, 2009 -- SEIU Wages War on Progressives
Nov. 17, 2009 -- Hawkish Hillary: Pro-Surge & Anti-Savvy Majority, Again
Nov. 17, 2009 -- D.C. Archdiocese Throws Temper Tantrum Over Gay Marriage
Nov. 17, 2009 -- It’s Easy Being Green
Nov. 17, 2009 -- Joe Elsbernd's Family; The Wages of American Workers; Mission Community Organization; Film Review of "Precious"; Muni's Future; Campos Immigration Policy ...
Nov. 16, 2009 -- New York Times: “American Workers Are Overpaid”
Nov. 16, 2009 -- Brown Only Democrat Left Standing … Really?
Nov. 16, 2009 -- Joe Elsbernd, Supe’s Dad Who Grew Up in the Tenderloin, Dies at 64
Nov. 16, 2009 -- The Agassi Exception: Do “Performance Inhibitors” Deserve a Libertine’s Pass?
Nov. 16, 2009 -- Hyatt Hotel Workers; SF Student Assignment Process; Palace Hotel Strike ...
MAIN ARTICLE ARCHIVE
Copyright © 2005-2008
Beyond
Chron.org. All rights reserved.
RSS News Feed
|
|
November 20, 2009
