Columbus Day, Redirected

I spent some time during my lunch this afternoon trying to come up with something to post for Columbus Day, which is without a doubt my least favorite holiday on the US calendar (I even like xmas better). But I didn't have much luck. Everyone who cares already knows that Columbus was no hero and that he doesn't deserve to be honored with a holiday (he instead deserved to be locked up for his crimes).

I realized that my commentary where Columbus Day is concerned probably peaked last year, when Columbus Day and Coming Out Day both fell on the same date, and I encouraged my friends on facebook to "Be gay, not genocidal!" (my favorite followup was from a neighbor: "I thought that I was the only one constantly reminding myself to be gay and not genocidal. One is fabulous and the other is not.").

But back to today's post. As I navigated the labyrinthine warren that is the internet while nibbling on last night's leftovers, I was distracted from my quest by this awesome video of Widespread Panic opening their 25th Anniversary Party earlier this year with Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth," just as they had at their first show in 1986.

And then as I listened, I realized that this is a perfect song to put up here today. For, even now, thousands of people are out in the streets, all over the world, protesting the ongoing oppression that continues to this day, which is still (and ever) motivated by greed and enabled by corruption.

So, instead of honoring a cruel, genocidal terrorist, I'd like to redirect our attention to the great, brave people who are standing up to the powerful, worldwide. One of the many places where this is happening is in New York, where the Occupy Wall Street protests have morphed into a movement that is spreading across the country (including Chattanooga). It's a relief to see that the sleeping giant has finally (re)awakened here in the US. Our leaders and the media would be wise to pay attention. I don't think these people are going to go home quietly.

photo of Occupy Wall Street on the Brooklyn Bridge by Mat McDermott

But sunny days are optional...

"We are mothers and fathers. And sons and daughters. Who every day go about our lives with duty, honor and pride. And neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor the winds of change, nor a nation challenged, will stay us from the swift completion of our appointed rounds. Ever."

There was a huge turnout in downtown Chattanooga this afternoon in support of our postal service (I don't think this photo does the crowd justice, but it does highlight the beautiful downtown day!). The things that are being done by those who want nothing more than to destroy our nation's largest union are breathtaking in their shortsightedness.

If Darrell Issa gets his way, the Chattanooga sorting facility will be shut down, and most of those folks up there will have to move to Atlanta if they want to keep their jobs. And it's possible that all of Chattanooga's mail will have to go down to Atlanta to be sorted before it is delivered. No more overnight delivery. No more 24-hour turnaround on those Netflix DVDs.

And if Mr. Issa gets what he really wants, which is privatizing the entire industry, kiss your mail delivery goodbye, and it's not just your Saturday mail that's at risk -- it's the entire postal delivery service. If you need to mail an envelope across the country some day, how much do you think FedEx or UPS is going to charge you? Less than 50¢? Good luck with that. And if they no longer have to compete with the US post office (an incredibly efficient service, by the way), how long do you think it will take for FedEx and UPS to jack up the prices they charge for delivering your amazon and ebay orders?

Think about it. And watch that video up there. And then call your congressperson (yeah, even if you live around here -- give Chuckie a call!), and ask him or her to support HR 1351.

Another spotting...

"Daylight Sayings time tonight. Most states set their clocks forward an hour. Wisconsin this year is setting clocks both forward one hour and back 50 years."

Spotted tonight...

A union worker, a member of the Tea Party, and a CEO are sitting at a table. In the middle of the table there is a plate with a dozen cookies on it. The CEO reaches across the table, takes 11 cookies, looks at the Tea Partier and says: “Look out for that union guy, he wants a piece of your cookie."

Happy Holiday!

Happy Labor Day, everyone (while you're enjoying that last hot dog of summer, remember that if it weren't for the labor movement, you wouldn't have paid vacations, sick days, emergency exits, weekends, or even bathroom breaks!). I'm using a bit of time this weekend to finally finish processing my photos from the summer travels. Here's the first. We took a roadtrip up to Chicago at the end of July, and our trip didn't start out very well (this is about two hours into our drive):

Happily, this cleared out all the bad juju and the rest of the trip was wonderful... great sights, wonderful food and fantastic company (we visited my brother and his wife). More photos are forthcoming...

Happy May Day!

Today is Labour Day, or International Workers' Day in places around the world. In Israel, it's Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), it's Beltane for the Celts, and National Love Day in the Czech Republic. Here in the US, not only is it May Day (which brings its own bizarre spectacle to Chattanooga), but it's also Loyalty Day and Law Day!

Whew! Better take the day off!

UPDATE #1: it's also National Day of Prayer (thanks, Bob!) and National Day of Reason, which both fall on the first Thursday of May.

UPDATE #2: AND it's Mission Accomplished Day (thanks, Buck!).
Seriously, take the day off. With all this maypole dancing, praying, thinking and -- well, trying to figure out how to get our country out from under its misguided and incompetent leadership -- it's going to be a very busy day!

UPDATE #3: well, it turns out that this year, May 1st falls 40 days after Easter, so it's also (thanks again, Bob) Ascension Day (which jumps around on our calendar pretty wildly, since it follows Easter -- last year it fell on my mother's birthday).

And for the record, it's also a bunch of other stuff today, too. But, fun as all this is, I think I'll quit with the updates.

The Return of Stewart & Colbert

The Daily Show, without writers, will return on Monday, January 7th, according to its website. The show will have a different format than we're used to, consisting mostly of interviews.

I expect Jon to explain on his first night back that while he supports the writers 100%, he also supports the rest of his staff -- the camera operators, etc -- who need their paychecks. So, he'll limp along without the writers as we all hope that the evil studios will crumble sometime soon.

Stewart and Colbert released a joint statement:

We would like to return to work with our writers. If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence.