Unions, Libya, State Fair, and a Penniless Dick

Here's an anagram for my name (full first and last, with middle initial)that a website came up with: A LAZY, PENNILESS DICK.

Ha! Shows what they know. I have at least a nickel in the bank.

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I post a lot of news links over on Facebook. It's not nearly as fascinating as the endless Mafia Wars, Farmsville, and "What Disney Princess are You?" posts that other people bombard me with, but no one's perfect.

Here's a recap of some of the more interesting links:



* Tom Barrett, Milwaukee's mayor, was beaten with a pipe after stopping to help a woman in a domestic altercation outside of the Wisconsin State Fair. He'll recover, but spent time in the hospital, lost some teeth, and broke his hand in the fight.

I'm no fan of Barrett, who seems to do little more than warm the Mayor's chair, but good for him. You did right by Milwaukee Tom. We're proud of you.




* William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies, admitted that he once tried to rape a girl. Bear in mind the guy seemed to get off on coming across as a disturbed malcontent, so I wouldn't put 100% faith in his posthumous claim.



* Back when Mitt Romney, a Republican, was Governor of Massachusetts, the Ted Kennedy lobbied successfully to change the laws of the state. Thanks to that effort, if a Senator couldn't finish their term, a special election would be held to fill the seat. That prevented Mitt from appointing a member of his own party to fill the void.

Fast forward to 2009. Kennedy is sick with cancer, a Democrat is back in the Governor's chair, and guess what? Ol' Teddy wants the law changed back. I guess that election process he fought for so hard doesn't look so democratic when it denies a fellow Dem a seat for a few months.

How very, what's the word I'm looking for? Expected.



* The people who thought it a wise and compassionate idea to release the Lockerbie Bomber have proven the idiocy of treating terrorism - an act of war - as a mere criminal offense. A man who commits mass murder in the name of war should not, MUST not, receive the same treatment as a citizen who violates the law. Not that a 'mere' murderer with a life sentence should ever be released on 'compassionate' grounds - where's the compassion for the victim and their family? - but there is so much more involved here than pis**ing off a local community.

For starters: Scotland now looks weak and infantile, kooks in the Muslim world now have the idea that you can kill hundreds of Westerners and get a few years in jail for the trouble, Libya has a new rock star terrorist to laud, the families of hundreds of victims have had their emotional wounds ripped open, and, oh yeah . . . Libya claims, I hope fraudently, that the deal was done in exchange for financial considerations.




Even if the claim is false, any business the U.K. does with Libya will now appear to be as a result of this action. Essentially, it's now a no win situation for them. They can sit at home and lose money, or go ahead and look to the world like vultures reaping their prize.
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* Mercury Marine, which has its world headquarters here in Fon du Lac, employs 1900 people in Wisconsin and has been vital to the areas economic well-being for 70 years. To quote the Journal-Sentinel "Mercury's $175 million annual local payroll, including benefits, has been called an economic engine for the entire Fox Valley."

Now, facing a rough economy and declining sales, they gave an ultimatium to the union: help us survive by agreeing to a wage freeze for current workers, and a 30% cut for future hires, or we'll move the jobs to another state.

Well, you'd imagine the union would suck it up for a bit and ride out the recession. After all, all union workers at the plant make at least $20 an hour ($40K/year) plus benefits. I'd take that in a heartbeat. Wouldn't they?

I guess not. The union, doing what unions do, said no.

That'll show 'em!

Oh, wait. It won't. The company announced today that because of the vote they'll commence moving south, leaving "Zero to 200" jobs behind in Wisconsin.

Enjoy your unemployment gentlemen. I feel your pain - except, of course, that unlike you I didn't get the choice to keep my job and yell "hell no!" instead.