My old center got another new manager last month and again, this one was from Atlanta and his head barely fit through the door. Every new manager who comes out West brags that he’s an expert horseman. Fortunately, they had the opportunity to put this one to the test. I wasn’t there, but this is how the story was told to me….
Arrogantly, the manager mounted the big beast unassisted. As he adjusted himself in the saddle, the horse sprang into action. As it galloped along at a steady, rhythmic pace, the Atlanta Wonder began to slip from the saddle. In terror, he grabbed for the horse’s mane, but couldn’t seem to get a firm grip. He tried to throw his arms around the horse’s neck, but to no avail. As he slid towards catrastophe, the horse continued to gallop along, seemingly unaware of its slipping rider.
Finally, giving up his frail grip, the new boss attempted to push away from the horse and throw himself to safety. Unfortunately, his foot became entangled in the stirrup, and he was now at the mercy of the horse’s pounding hooves as his head was struck against the ground over and over.
Bystanders watched in horror as Mister Bigshot began to lose consciousness. Just as disaster seemed unavoidable, a quick thinking grocery clerk reached over and pulled the cord on the wild stallion.
All posts by George
Washington Times Demise, More “News” “News”
The favorite toy of the Reverend Moon is failing. The Washington Times has been a tool of the right wing even though their “morals” conflict with those of the Reverand Moon.
Read about the demise of the Times
New Pension Legislation in the House of Representatives
You can click on the attached links for the whole story, and for the official language in the bill.
You can also contact your representative to let them know how you feel about the legislation.
The whole article.
Link to official Language in the House Bill
Contact your House Representative
Going Christmas Shopping?
Here is a little something to think about this Christmas season as you and your family go out to do some shopping. MSNBC has posted up an Associated Press story that 
shows what happens when you speak your mind in China. One of their citizens co-wrote an ariticle calling for free elections, freedom of religion and free speech. He was thrown in jail without charges and has sat there for a year. His wife has been allowed to see him twice.
These are the freedoms that we like to beat our chests about. These are the freedoms our boys are fighting and dying for in Iraq and Afghanistan. These are freedoms we would kill for.
If you read the ariticle, you’ll see that the average citizen in China is unaware of what’s happening because of a “news blackout and Internet censorship”. These are a couple more things that Americans would consider repressive if they were happening anywhere but China.
And why is that? Why do we march off to war in Iraq and then go shopping at WalMart where 80% of the goods on the shelves are “Made in China”? Are we really that morally weak?
Yes, I think we are. Think about that when you go Christmas shopping this month. It’s really kind of sickening.
Engineers Strung Up by Thumbs
United Parcel Service is said to be thumbing its nose at the once much acclaimed DIAD IV. While smaller in size and loaded with gizmos, DIAD IV has proven to be a real honker. In a business where time is money and keystrokes are measured in dollars, drivers are fumbling away the company’s profits.
Problems first began to arise when engineers, more concerned about size than function, put letters and numbers on the same keys and added a “shift” button. “Size is everything,” design engineer Richard Head explained. “I’ve finally proved that smaller is better.”
But the shift key has proven to be a real boondoggle, with drivers often having to break, stand off to the side and fumble with the keyboard. What was once a smooth delivery routine has turned into a battle of the thumbs, with some drivers even having to void out their previous work and go back and try it again. Communicating with DIAD IV has become a real challenge, drivers often typing lengthy messages only to accidently erase them with a single keystroke. “It’s a nightmare,” one driver recently complained as he threw his DIAD down, “whoever designed this thing ought to be strung up by his thumbs.”
Apparantly UPS had the same idea. A recent audit of time being wasted using DIAD IV showed that the placement of the button that turns the signature screen around costs the company over a million dollars in lost time every month. It seems that one out of every 20 customers hits the button when they take the DIAD to sign. That causes the driver to take the board back, punch through the screens to return to the signature mode, and hand it back to the signer with the warning, “Don’t touch that button.” Placing the only active button during the signature process in the exact location where everyone holds the board was the last straw for UPS.
Following in the Chinese tradition of simply executing anyone who causes emabarassment and financial loss, next month UPS will string up the entire engineering department by their thumbs. “It’s fitting,” a UPS spokesman boasted, “the punishment fits the crime.”
Seasonal Pay
Seasonal drivers make the starting driver wage which in Denver is $16.10/hr.
Driver helpers are paid $12.88/hr.
Corporatist’s, The Next Step in the Takeover of the World
With the takeover of NBC, the Corporatist mentality is rising to the top in America again. The huge Corporatist takeover of the world continues through the process of brainwashing on the media airwaves. The television and “news” media has become the new propaganda machine. Today there really is no “news”. With the editorial control, through ownership, of the TV, Cable, and print 
Have a conversation with a “ditto head”, somewhere. These people will spout verbatim the spewings of a fat, anti-social, radio head, that makes millions of dollars, and has no clue what it’s like to be a working class person in todays America. He is able to convince these people that the Union they work with is somehow an evil entity that wants to steal their soul. Yet without that union these people wouldn’t have a pot to piss in. If you ever notice, it’s many of these very same “ditto heads”, that have lost their job, or their health insurance, or their pensions in the last 10 years of the takeover. These “ditto heads” are the first people in line at the unemployment office, or the welfare office, with their hands out demanding their rights as an American. The hypocrisy is astounding.
Ownership has it’s privileges. What better way to change the debate than to broadcast the same lie, over and over and over and over and over and over. You get the idea. If you don’t think it’s a reality, look at Nazi Germany. How did Hitler win the unwavering support of the German people prior to WWII. He controlled the Media, of the time, and used it to convince his people that he was some kind of God. Without the people behind him, he was just some funny looking, skinny guy, with a caterpillar on his lip.
These Corporatists are not about the American people. Hell Murdoch is an Australian. These, and I use the term loosely, people, are not about the working class. They are not about small business. They are not about American freedom.
They are about control. They are about money. They are about monopoles. They are about “one” bank. They are about “one” airline. They are about “one” Media outlet. When you have only “one” of anything, you have total control. No radicals, no rebels, nobody doing their own thing. No competition.
For those of you that have supported the latest batch of politicians in Washington, what I have said is the most obvious. They stood up in front of us, and told us how they were going to return America to the people. How they were going to provide us all with health care. How they were going to get us out of the ridiculous wars we are in. How they were going to bring back “American jobs” to Americans. We believed them, and we voted for them. Now it’s obvious why the big money corporatists give money to both sides. It’s so they can control the debate.
Notice how the health care debate has become about the insurance companies, and what they can afford, and what they can provide. Where did the people go in that discussion. The public option was about the people. Look at how many of them have turned their back on the people.
Notice how the war debate has gone from getting us out of Iraq and Afghanistan to the same old “National Security” crap that Bush handed to us. Look how the debate is now about the Military industrial complex, not the people.
Notice how the debate about job creation has gone from bringing jobs home, to getting along with China, (who owns us by the way), and creating off shore trade policies. A .01 % decrease in unemployment gives all of the politicians a hard on, when in fact they are just manipulating the numbers to benefit the overall picture. People are still losing their jobs. I loved the way the media presented it as “only 11000 people lost their jobs this month”. Were any of those “11000” you?
Again it’s all about phony media numbers, and the presentation. It’s about challenging you to get the facts on your own. They have no obligation to tell the truth, as Fox News found out when they were sued for lieing on air. The courts said they have no legal obligation to tell the truth.
Until the people regain ownership of the airwaves, and the media, this country will remain in the grip of the Corporatist.
So go ahead. Try to start that small business. Go ahead. Try to get medicine for your baby. Go ahead. Try to get a decent paying job. Go ahead. Try to retire in your lifetime. Go ahead. Listen to a Teabagger tell you what is really going on in the world. Go ahead. Keep hiding your head in the sand.
They’re coming after your livelihood next!
Option Days, 8-Hour Days and 9.5 Language…Peak Rules
The rules for 8-hour days, option days and 9.5 grievances change during the peak months of November and December.
We cannot request Option Days from Thanksgiving through December 25.
We cannot request an 8-hour day from Thanksgiving through the week of Christmas.
We do not have 9.5 language during the months of November or December.
Giving UPS the finger
Have you ever wanted to give UPS the finger but were afraid to?
Well, here is how they do it at Local 177 in New Jersey.
What Type of Pension Do You Have?
Do you know the difference between a defined benefit and a defined contribution pension, which kind you have and which is better? Every driver at UPS should know the answers to these questions because every driver would retire today if they had the opportunity. The money, the insurance and the pension. That’s why people work at UPS. I don’t know anyone who stays because they enjoy it. 
As a retiree, I know quite a bit about the pension. I’ve jumped through all the hoops and tried to ask all the right questions. I’ve struggled to understand the insurance and I’ve searched for that open door at UPS where I could go in and sit down get all my questions answered. That door doesn’t exist, of course, and in reality it’s really difficult to get information about the pension because the company has no website or local pension experts. I’ve heard people speculate that the reason UPS doesn’t talk about the pension is because they plan to convert to a defined contribution as soon as possible.
Liz Pullium Weston has written a great article What’s killing pension plans? Maybe you and in concise terms it tells you why you have the best type of pension and what you should be willing to do to keep it. Nothing in this world worth keeping is free anymore. As workers across America lose their jobs, their benefits, and even their homes, UPSers feel insulated and safe. But are we?
I think a smart and united workforce could give UPS a run for their money as we enter this new millinium of corporate power. But when push comes to shove, will UPSers be too scared to stand up? I reached a point where I couldn’t stand back and watch UPS steamroll over all the employees around me. I stood up. I began to fight back. I became a steward. I started a website.
If you are reaching that point too, a good place to begin would be the pension article I mention above.
Knowledge is power. Grab it.