The Friends of California Libre...

24 November 2004

Have a Happy Redneck Thanksgiving

Greetings, friends,
I remember one of the first really fun protests I went to was when Dianne Feinstein brought the USS Missouri into San Francisco in 1985. (It was also a rather thinly veiled double-date with the then-straight Ralph and Anastasia, me and Mme. Sullivan, then a very svelte 95 lbs. or so, but that's another story.) The irate father of a sailor said to us, "I'd rather have my son dead than end up like you." Niiice. My first taste of the "red".

Anyway, it was some holiday (Veteran's Day?) and a guy went around yelling, "Have a happy racist holiday! Have a happy racist holiday!" That's always stuck in my mind. As someone who is 1/4 Italian, 1/4 Ukrainian Jew and 1/32 Cherokee, just about every holiday is racist to me.

Someday, when you're bored and I'm around, ask me about the Thanksgiving I spent at my uncle's house when I was 13 (first time I ever saw cocaine) or when I was 21 ("Does your girlfriend have nice titties?") To me, Thanksgiving is about giving thanks that most of your relatives are dead or have gone into hiding. I plan to honor that tomorrow and throughout the weekend.

Here's my Thanksgiving present to you: a screed even more pissed off than http://www.fuckthesouth.com/ (thanks, Mark):
...a rant for our times:
http://indyweek.com/durham/current/news.html
__________________________________________________
How about this: make sure the Iranians get their nukes and hope they take out Washington, DC first? Oooh, I'll bet THAT made you flinch.

And of course, many thanks to Aunt Nona and Dana, it really is a redneck Thanksgiving, in pictures.

In honor of the non-union employees of Wal-Mart sitting around eating donated turkeys and canned pumpkins (thanks, Mike):
Wal-Mart Concedes China Can Make Unions
SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- Under pressure from the Chinese labor federation, the world's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said Tuesday it would permit branches of the official Communist Party-controlled union in its Chinese stores if employees requested it.

``Should associates request formation of a union, Wal-Mart China would respect their wishes and honor its obligation under China's Trade Union Law,'' said the Bentonville, Ark.-based company in a statement faxed to news media.

``Currently, there are no unions in Wal-Mart China because associates have not requested that one be formed,'' the statement said.

The 123 million-member All China Federation of Trade Unions last month threatened to sue Wal-Mart and other companies based outside China if they don't set up union branches in their China operations.

The federation did not immediately respond to telephone or faxed requests for comment.

The unionization drive was the latest attempt by the union -- the sole body permitted to organize workers in China -- to penetrate the most dynamic sector of the economy, shore up its declining membership, and boost its lowly political status.

Branches of the Chinese union are usually toothless management-controlled bodies that work mostly to prevent conflict.

Wal-Mart, which operates 39 stores in China employing 20,000 people, didn't say what specifically prompted its announcement. But it did note recent media coverage about the company's relationship with the union and said the statement was intended to ``clarify that relationship.''

``Wal-Mart is currently in full compliance with China's Trade Union Law, which states that establishing a union is a voluntary action of the associates,'' the statement said.

Wal-Mart has no unionized stores, although workers at a Wal-Mart in Canada recently had their union accredited by the local labor board. Wal-Mart was expected to fight that ruling.

The retailer has more than 4,300 outlets in nine countries employing more than 1.3 million people.

It sourced $15 billion worth of products in China last year.

And finally, more proof that European ingenuity is a threat to American global hegemony:
Lithuanian man commits suicide with self-designed electric chair
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cpress/20041123/ca_pr_on_od/lithuania_electric_chair

Have a happy racist holiday,

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