There’s been a lot of talk today of how there should be a general strike to support the public unions of Wisconsin. I was raised in a union family, my father worked at the telephone company and was a member of the C.W.A. (Communications Workers of America). I’ve been a member of two unions myself, first the UFCW (I worked in a grocery store as a teen) and later I was briefly a member of IATSE in my early twenties.  None of this, of course, qualifies me to be able to offer meaningful advice on what the unions should do next, and I wouldn’t deign to try, but last night as I watched the live feed from the Wisconsin capitol building (which I was glued to for hours last night, I couldn’t take my eyes off it) I listened to the words a gentleman who did have some sage advice to offer.

I don’t know who he was, but when the interviewer asked him if he had plans to sleep in the capital that night, he said that he was thinking about it, but that he had to get up really early to do TV and radio interviews. He was super articulate and knew the history of the labor movement in America, cold. He could cite facts, figures, dates, court cases, going back over 100 years. He was an expert’s expert on the topic. Again, I have no idea who he was, but his intelligence was very impressive to me, his calm was comforting, and his logic compelling. He was probably a spokesperson for one of the unions, but until I see his face again, that’s all I can say. He had brown hair and a mustache and was in his mid-50s.

The gist of what he said, though, was that a general strike NOW was probably a very bad strategic move, at least at this still beginning stage of the game. His reasoning was as follows:

1) It was too early to be threatening a general strike because once it had occurred, if the Republicans didn’t budge—and since Walker sees himself as Reagan Jr. that seems likely as shit—the unions will have played their big card. General strikes have been historically difficult to maintain in America. He said he didn’t expect that the fight had dug in hard enough to keep it going. Yet.

He felt it was better to ratchet it up slowly, keep applying the same sorts of pressure that the crowds had been applying throughout the conflict with Republicans, begin the recall efforts targeting the weakest GOP members of the state assembly immediately and to not let anger cause any unpleasant media images that would be to the Republican advantage in a propaganda war.

2) His second reason was that the endgame of this entire episode is much more likely to be decided in a courtroom than via any other method.

Food for thought. I’m not saying he’s right, but before I heard the man speak I’d have been hellbent on seeing a general strike. And he didn’t say it was a bad idea or that a general strike wouldn’t wouldn’t ultimately be necessary, but that it wasn’t necessary YET. 

Above all he advocated keeping cool heads and he’s absolutely right about that.

 
Not that they have any credibility to begin with, but the Fox News coverage of Wisconsin has been particularly dishonest.

 
(via Nerdcore)

 
Get out your day-planners, people. According to the above billboard in my ass-backwards neighborhood of one of the most sophisticated cities in the world Lord Jesus H. Christ will be arriving to herald the end of the world on May 21, 2011 (not to put too fine a point on it.). Really lookin’ forward to it !
 
bonus video: The Church of the Future ponders the end, courtesy of Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooogle

 
With thanks to Giga Granada Hills !

On her Wednesday show, Rachel Maddow and filmmaker Michael Moore both agreed that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and the state’s Republicans will lose what Moore called a “class war” being waged against the working class.

The two were reacting to Wednesday’s sudden passage of a measure in the Wisconsin Senate to strip public employees of their collective bargaining rights—something only accomplished through an unheard-of parliamentary maneuver.

Before bringing Moore on, Maddow said that the Wisconsin Republicans had awoken a “dragon.” And she sent a message to the Democrats as well. “When people who have to work for a living are directly attacked…they fight back,” she said. “And they are expecting the Democratic Party to stand with them.”

Moore then came on the show. He told people to go to Madison right away. “This is war,” he said. “This is a class war.”

He also expressed optimism about the outcome of the Wisconsin fight. “Everything has turned in favor of the working people,” he said.

Maddow said that the “political brittleness” of what Walker and other Republicans were attempting was working against them.“All it takes is some political pushback against that and it collapses,” she said.

Moore then echoed the speech he gave in Madison last weekend, which drew widespread attention.

“Wisconsin’s not broke,” he said. “America isn’t broke. The money’s just not in the people’s hands. It’s in the hands of the rich, the people who committed these crimes and got away with it.” He held up a pair of handcuffs and looked at the camera.

“I’d like anybody who works on Wall Street, anybody who works for the banks, just take a look at this,” he said. “This is what’s coming. This is what’s coming for you. Because the people are going to demand justice, they’re going to demand that your ass is in jail.”

 
Via HuffPo

 
In my post about Rockets the other day, I mentioned the Italian TV program Stryx. Here’s some more bizarro music performance clips from the show, in its own particular late 70s batshit/fierce style. They really don’t make ‘em like this anymore! According to Wikipedia:

Stryx thematically referred to Hell, devils and underworld. The scenography featured elements resembling Middle Ages-like gloomy castles and caves… The show caused many controversies in more conservative societies, mainly because of its devilish theme and referring to underworld as well as exposing nudity. Due to numerous protests the show was taken off the broadcast and the production of following episodes was cancelled.

So in these videos, all of which are worth watching, we get two huge gay disco icons in the one clip (Amanda Lear & Grace Jones), Patty Pravo giving Gaga a run for her Illuminati wage packet, Mia Martini getting burnt at the stake in a fabulous glittery dress, and some more of those amazing Rockets. My favourite clip is Gal Costa performing “Relance” - it’s quite subdued for Stryx (apart from the dozen or so extras who are lying still at the front of the stage) but is carried by Costa’s no bullshit performance and the incredible gypsy funk of the track itself. But first let’s start with Grace and Amanda:
 
Grace Jones (introduced by Amanda Lear) - Fame
 

 
After the jump, more Grace Jones, Amanda Lear, Patty Pravo, Gal Costa, Mia Martini and Rockets…

 
This guy is good, real good, but there are moments in this Hendrix tribute by Randy Hansen that had me staring at my monitor with a mixture of admiration, queasiness and an intense desire to reach for the dental floss. The sight of the moose knuckle in his slacks and monolithic teeth, which as they descend upon the fretboard resemble the Manhattan skyline with guitar in foreground as animated by Jan Svankmajer and refracted through the fish-eye perspective of a Paregoric junkie, sent small acidic streams of zinfandel spinning through my glottis like liquid dust devils.

Born December 8, 1954 in Seattle, Washington Randy is a U.S. guitarist, best known for his emulation of Jimi Hendrix. He clearly has a bit of physical resemblance to Hendrix in his facial features, and carries that resemblance further by emulating such signatures of Hendrix’s style as playing a guitar with his teeth or behind his back.

This is from German TV circa 1994. And, as I said, it is good and I know I’ll be struck down by lightening for being so insensitive but….
 

 
 
   When the union’s inspiration through the workers’ blood shall run,
   There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun;
   Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one,
   But the union makes us strong.

   Solidarity forever,
   Solidarity forever,
   Solidarity forever,
   For the union makes us strong.

   Is there aught we hold in common with the greedy parasite,
   Who would lash us into serfdom and would crush us with his might?
   Is there anything left to us but to organize and fight?
   For the union makes us strong.

   It is we who plowed the prairies; built the cities where they trade;
   Dug the mines and built the workshops, endless miles of railroad laid;
   Now we stand outcast and starving midst the wonders we have made;
   But the union makes us strong.

   All the world that’s owned by idle drones is ours and ours alone.
   We have laid the wide foundations; built it skyward stone by stone.
   It is ours, not to slave in, but to master and to own.
   While the union makes us strong.

   They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn,
   But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn.
   We can break their haughty power, gain our freedom when we learn
   That the union makes us strong.
  
   In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold,
   Greater than the might of armies, magnified a thousand-fold.
   We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old
   For the union makes us strong.

Written by Ralph Chaplin in 1915.
 

 
Thanks to DM reader Tony.

 
Team Print Shop just released this totally ridiculous Justin Bieber/Slayer t-shirt. It made me laugh out loud. You can buy one for a measly $20.00 over at their webstore.

Below, an amusing video of Justin Bieber rocking out on drums with Slayer.

 
(via Boooooom and TDW)

 
History in the making!  You make us all proud!

Anne Habel, a steward with AFSCME Local 171, said Wednesday’s action will further inflame the unions, which have staged daily protests since Walker introduced his budget repair bill in mid-February. “Every time something happens, people become more militant,” Habel said.”

Ted Lewis, a union representative for Rock Valley Education Professionals, led protesters in a cheer referring to the effort to recall the governor, in office for just two tumultuous months.

“Scott you don’t remember me,” Lewis chanted, “but I can recall you.”

As Wisconsin goes, so goes the nation.