TheWorx

In grammar school, I thought unions were great. They were great when the injustices committed against Joe Schmo were atrocious (child labor, pittance pay, toxic environment). Today, I believe that those with unions are parasites on the those without unions. Invariably, those with unions are at an advantage not enjoyed by the rest. They get better pay, job security, benefits, and perks. Not always, of course. The hotel industry has found ways to unionize with unions that are nothing more than fronts of respectability and responsibility--organizations that remind me of Popeye's chicken soup. For non-boomers, Popeye used to make soup by dipping a dead chicken once or twice in hot water and serving the water as chicken soup. So what are the rest of us to do? We can start by considering the possibility of a government option for unionizing. I know, public options can get blown up by the likes of an industry puppet like Joe Lieberman. But we've got Pelosi on our side. She may not be ...

In last year's New Jersey gubernatorial election, Chris Christie was worried that Daggett would spoil his chances of being elected by taking away Christie votes. In a political novel, I fantasized that a rich person like Corzine just might be able to "plant" someone like Daggett in order to do just that. But fantasy or not, Chris Christie had valid concerns and, in looking at the problem, I saw that it was a simple matter to eliminate this problem--you merely let the voters vote twice. If you let the voters vote for their top two candidates, no vote will go to waste. When all votes are tallied, If their first choice (let's say Daggett) falls into third place then, the voters who had a third place candidate as their second choice will have their "first choice" votes transferred to the top two candidates. He's an example. If I voted for Daggett and Christie, and all the first choices tally as Corzine, Christie, and Daggett in third place, my second choice ...

I sign up and read many activist sites/articles. The following site was sent to my email address. bravenewfilms We are told it shows "Tom Hayden, Dolores Huerta, Carl Pope, Bonnie Raitt, and Pete Seeger in one-on-one conversations with the next generation of progressive stars like Majora Carter, Van Jones, Naomi Klein, Ava Lowery, and Anthony Romero." The email then asks that we vote for our personal at civic heros I thought about this for a moment and felt really dejected. First, for the paucity of easily-recognized big heros and, secondly, for the slow and piecemeal progress that we have in this country. Of those old generation heros, I only know Pete Seeger (I think he is responsible for helping to clean up the Hudson River). Is global-warming Gore a hero? How about Richard Gere or how about the Pitts? Why do activists spend decades of their lives trying to accomplish good. Nader, Seeger. It doesn't have to be this way. We can have a forum where ordinary joes like you...

Have you see Obama's take on the race issue? The man understands the races as no individual I've ever heard or read. He sees the White man festering economically and naturally resentful of any group that's not his own. He sees the Black man being civil to the White man but expressing his anger at home and at the pews. He knows the solution lies in leveling the economic disparity at the root of all our problems. Look for major outpouring of contributions to the Clinton Campaign by the rich.

Eliminating disenfranchisement through the Web. Peer pressure amongst politicians perpetuates the status quo. I can see it happening and I've never been to Capital Hill. But there is a way to keep them working for us instead of the special interest. The cure is for us to compete directly with the lobbyists and other movers. Forget letters to your elected officials. Forget public opinion polls; the fat cats cannot be trusted with our future. The only way to keep them honest is to keep them on their toes every step of the way. When this site is implemented, the politician will be guided to do our will, not his own. Notice that I said guided; the politician will always be allowed to vote his conscience. This is necessary because he/she is privy to a large amount of so-called classified information that may work against our wishes. This roadblock however only affects decisions regarding national security. No other area of our society is off limits to our will. Here’s how...