Solidarity actions this week, FYI

Tea Partiers and like-minded citizens in 24 states, take notice. SEIU and like-minded citizens are planning get-togethers that you might want also to attend. Here’s a list:

Note: these are not all SEIU events – most are sponsored by other unions, but everyone is welcome to attend

Events on Monday February 21, 2011 (All times local)

Indiana
Rally
Time: 9 A.M.
Location: Indiana State Capitol
Address: 302 W Washington St – Indianapolis, IN

Montana
Rally
Time: 2 P.M.
Location: Montana State Capitol
Address: 1301 East 6th Avenue – Helena, Montana

Nevada
Rally
Time: 12 P.M.
Location: Nevada State Capitol
Address: 101 North Carson Street – Carson City, NV 89701

North Carolina
Rally
Time: 12 P.M. Location:
Address: 1 East Edenton Street – Raleigh, NC 27601

Oregon
Rally
Time: 12 P.M.
Location: State Capitol
Address: 900 Court St. NE – Salem, OR 97301

Texas
Candlelight March and Vigil
Time: 6:45 P.M.
Location: Meet at TX AFL-CIO
Address: 1106 Lavaca St. – Austin, TX. 78701

Washington
Rally
Time: 12:00 PM
Location: State Capitol Rotunda
Address: 416 Sid Snyder Avenue SW – Olympia, WA 98504

Wisconsin
Rally
Time: All Day
Location: State Capitol
Address: 2 East Main Street – Madison, WI. 53702

Events on Tuesday February 22, 2011 (All times local)

California
Vigil
Time: 5:30 P.M.
Location: State Capitol West Steps
Address: 1315 10th Street – Sacramento, CA 95814

California
Vigil
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: Poncitlan Square
Address: 38315 9th Street East – Palmdale, CA. 93550

Colorado
Rally
Time: 12:00 P.M.
Location: Colorado State Capitol
Address: 200 East Colfax Avenue (West Steps) – Denver, CO. 80203

Iowa
Rally
Time: 1:00 PM
Location: Iowa State Capitol
Address: 1007 East Grand Avenue – Des Moines, IA

Maryland
Rally
Time: 12:00 PM
Location: Lawyers’ Mall, Maryland State House
Address: 100 State Circle – Annapolis, MD. 21401

Massachusetts
Rally
Time: 4:00 PM
Location: State House
Address: 1 Ashburton Pl – Boston, MA 02108

Massachusetts
Rally
Time: 4:00 PM
Location: City Hall Steps
Address: 36 Court Street – Springfield, MA 01103

Minnesota
Rally
Time: 4:00 PM
Location: Minnesota State Capitol
Address: 75 Constitution Ave – St. Paul, MN 55101

Ohio
Rally
Time: 1:00 PM
Location: Capitol Building
Address: 1395 Dublin Rd – Columbus, OH 43215

New Mexico
Rally
Time: 12:15 PM
Location: East Side of the State House
Address: 490 Old Santa Fe Trl # 219 – Santa Fe, NM 87501

Rhode Island
Rally
Time: 4:30 PM
Location: Rhode Island State House
Address: 90 Smith St – Providence, RI 02903

Vermont
Rally
Time: 12:00 PM
Location: Vermont State Capitol Building
Address: 115 State Street – Montpelier, VT. 05602

Wisconsin
Rally
Time: All Day
Location: State Capitol
Address: 2 East Main Street – Madison, WI. 53702

Events on Wednesday February 23, 2011 (All times local)

Arkansas
Rally
Time: 11:30 AM
Location: State Capitol Building
Address: 425 W Capitol Ave, Little Rock, AR 72201

Connecticut
Rally
Time: 12:00 PM
Location: State Capitol Building, West Steps
Address: 210 Capitol Avenue – Hartford, CT. 06106

Georgia
Rally
Time: 4:00 PM
Location: State Capitol Building
Address: 206 Washington St – Atlanta, GA, 30334

Pennsylvania
Rally
Time: 12:00 PM
Location: Lackawana Court House
Address: 200 Adams Avenue – Scranton, PA 18503

Events on Thursday February 24, 2011 (All times local)

Ohio
Protest against Governor Kasich
Time: 4:00 PM
Location: Canton Civic Center
Address: 1101 Market Ave N. – Canton, Oh 44702

Michelle gets away with kids

Nouveau riche. If you’ve got it, flaunt it.

Come fly with Mama in a beautiful new aeroplane.

Slapping union label on Wis. bishops

Bishops’ man in Madison WI provides a gloss for the bps’ gnomic message about teachers’ unions’ protest, tilting left:

Top right, man with union label.

John Huebscher, executive director of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, said the recent protests . . . are unlike anything he has ever seen [in his 40
years] working in or around the capitol . . . .

“The bishops are very careful — it’s a balanced statement,” he said. Unions, “just like anybody else, have to consider the good and make sacrifices.”

However, it’s “a mistake to cite hard times as a reason to dismiss or marginalize unions.” Tilt. Financial crisis? Favored union status? Don’t mention it.

The bishops are merely reminding everybody of the teaching of the Church [about] the dignity of work and the appropriate place for unions without giving them carte blanche to have everything they want. [italics mine]

They are not merely reminding, they are injecting stuff into the middle of a hot political situation. Let us not play dumb here.

The bishops’ man continues:

Does the bill serve to marginalize unions? Does this serve to drastically reduce the ability of worker to articulate and protect their interests? Those are fair questions to engage. [Flack, flack.]

More flacking:

Huebscher observed that the bill has struck such a chord with Wisconsin citizens because of its potentially far reaching implications for public and private employees.

Struck such a what kind of chord? What’s he talking about?

If the state as a matter of public policy can say that workers are going to be very limited in what they can bargain for, that will seep into other segments of the economy, he said. I think workers perceive that this is going to affect them, even workers that aren’t unionized. [union argument]

Huebscher added that there are benefits employees in the state have today that they didn’t have decades ago such as just wages [justice! yes!], paid overtime, 40-hour work weeks and the inability to be fired without due process. Union talking point.

Ditto reference to “time when [unemployment and workers compensation] weren’t available, followed by reference to “a sense among working people that while they don’t belong to a union today things they have exist today because unions fought for them. And they’re concerned about losing that.”

And we the bishops take that union argument very seriously, do we not, says their interpreter with 40 years experience. In fact, Wisconsin’s “long tradition of integrating and affirming workers” — what the hell does that mean? — “parallels . . . the development of Catholic social teaching and the rights of labor.”

Applause, cheers, trumpet blasts: Spoken by a true labor skate of the 19th or early 20th century. Give him the hook.

But also give him credit for being glad there’s been no violence so far, noting that the bishops have “urged people to remain civil, talk to each other, and keep the common good in mind.”

Well, it was the least they could do, right?