tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post5488244811698160357..comments2024-01-31T04:29:38.858-06:00Comments on The Outfit: A Collective of Chicago Crime Writers: Union Made in the USA . . .Sean Chercoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939494866272006802noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-54375797839575373372007-08-27T15:11:00.000-05:002007-08-27T15:11:00.000-05:00Just part of my charm, I guess :o)Just part of my charm, I guess :o)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-80189339983057082612007-08-27T12:14:00.000-05:002007-08-27T12:14:00.000-05:00Wow...you are an optimist.Wow...you <I>are</I> an optimist.Sean Chercoverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00939494866272006802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-38476668696916300902007-08-27T10:56:00.000-05:002007-08-27T10:56:00.000-05:00Sean,as an independent I agree. It just bothers me...Sean,as an independent I agree. It just bothers me that somehow the 'rules'require this type of talk. No one is happier than I am about the Illinois primary being moved up...I'll be well informed by the time I hit the booth :o) and I'm just naive enough to think that if the right candidate(s) is(are) chosen, we may have the luxury of an election ON the issues for a change and a chance for this Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-49756669001713736632007-08-27T10:23:00.000-05:002007-08-27T10:23:00.000-05:00Maryann - The politicians talk like politicians......Maryann - The politicians talk like politicians... But a few (and only a few) of the candidates have publicly pledged to take "not a dime" from K Street lobbying firms.<BR/><BR/>K Street has been perhaps the primary corrupting influence in the last 30 years.<BR/><BR/>So I would suggest, whomever you support and from whichever party, you choose a candidate who is willing to divorce his campaign Sean Chercoverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00939494866272006802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-88347426017271679112007-08-27T08:33:00.000-05:002007-08-27T08:33:00.000-05:00I bought a Ford once, back in 1993...used. It's a ...I bought a Ford once, back in 1993...used. It's a 1990 Escort and I say "is" because it stills runs just fine. So, perhaps 1990 is the exception to the "Ford is Crap" rule :o)<BR/><BR/>I'm not sure who has my support. Yet. No one seems to be saying anything we haven't heard before, and I'm not just talking about the issues. Seems to me it's become sport to make your opponent seem a sleazeball Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-81818770603810092552007-08-26T18:15:00.000-05:002007-08-26T18:15:00.000-05:00My first wife was forced to join a union when she ...My first wife was forced to join a union when she worked in a stationery store, and was paid minimum wage. Some great union, that.<BR/><BR/>As for the next president: ANYONE BUT HITLERY!Cap'n Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11783977137812876489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-35303274334891814172007-08-26T18:03:00.000-05:002007-08-26T18:03:00.000-05:00I enjoyed Ms. Paretsky's comments about the ILGWU ...I enjoyed Ms. Paretsky's comments about the ILGWU and the history of the labor movement. Thanks Sara.<BR/><BR/>But Obama. I was a big fan until he made an ill-considered remark that he would bomb the tribal areas of Pakistan. I'm old enough to remember when we bombed Cambodia and created Pol Pot and the Killing Fields. Destabilizing Pakistan (further) would be a disaster. <BR/><BR/>I'm Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-16095027227645338962007-08-26T15:50:00.000-05:002007-08-26T15:50:00.000-05:00It should have been entirely predictable that once...It should have been entirely predictable that once large unions started holding huge sums in their pension funds, their primary purpose would shift from protecting their workers to protecting their cash. It's exactly what happens to large corporations which become more in the business of inflating their share price than they are in the business of their actual business. <BR/><BR/>It's all sort ofKevin Guilfoilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08239157460247794910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-51933905138096033712007-08-26T15:41:00.000-05:002007-08-26T15:41:00.000-05:00Check out www.shopforamerica.com. This awesome si...Check out www.shopforamerica.com. This awesome site has thousands of American-made products representing hundreds of US companies.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-61261459334472667662007-08-25T18:25:00.000-05:002007-08-25T18:25:00.000-05:00True, Michael. But I'm feeling like an ostrich and...True, Michael. But I'm feeling like an ostrich and I want to go back in time a bit, see him enter. Daggonit.<BR/><BR/>Unions and guilds. Well, I'm a musician. And a writer. Yikes. How can I say this without sounding like a horrible person?<BR/><BR/>Please don't think me horrible, LOL.<BR/><BR/>What I mean is, standards are important. I've been in the situation of rescuing a tiny little serial Spy Scribblerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14299551957327543491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-83746702845534991842007-08-25T17:43:00.000-05:002007-08-25T17:43:00.000-05:00Sadly, I agree with everything Sean said. (I'm hol...Sadly, I agree with everything Sean said. (I'm holding out for Joe Biden instead of Obama, but that;'s a flickering hope.)<BR/><BR/>I, too, came from a union family, and I've held union jobs. Unions are the only way to keep employees and their pensions from being abused and taken advantage of. Unfortunately, too many unions are primarily interested in making sure the least qualified of their Dana Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01350344882342624735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-45889022864510402612007-08-25T17:23:00.000-05:002007-08-25T17:23:00.000-05:00Whenever I think of organized labor these days, I ...Whenever I think of organized labor these days, I think about a little piece of history I was told by the daughter of Bill Green, who founded the AFL. Apparently David Dubinsky, head of the ILGWU at the time, kept hearing from his rank and file about the horrible things that were happening to Jews in Germany. Together he and Bill Green wrote a letter and then went to see COrdell Hull at the StateLibby Hellmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10693555214699897283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-36912119726166929782007-08-25T13:58:00.000-05:002007-08-25T13:58:00.000-05:00Sara,How about the widespread disasters in our sch...Sara,<BR/><BR/>How about the widespread disasters in our school systems? The teachers unions don't seem to be able to get great teachers the pay they deserve, but in New York, they prevent horrible teachers from being fired. Here in Chicago, when too many teachers flunked competency tests, they lowered the score needed to pass.<BR/><BR/>No question unions once helped laborers--back when people Michael Dymmochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06424057697796493279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-38022245259652294232007-08-25T13:17:00.000-05:002007-08-25T13:17:00.000-05:00Oh, Sean, I know there's a lot of union corruption...Oh, Sean, I know there's a lot of union corruption, and I agree that our machining is in a sad way, but it would be nice to see machinists treated here the way they are in Sweden or Germany. When my husband was an active member of the Fermi Institute, he was the Ombudsman for the machine shop. They created first-class equipment, stuff that was used in some of the Mars probe experiments, for Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-50171432840591770012007-08-25T12:34:00.000-05:002007-08-25T12:34:00.000-05:00Sara - I'm not questioning the importance of organ...Sara - I'm not questioning the importance of organized labor. I'm pointing out the corruption I see, including throughout organized labor. <BR/><BR/>If the unions can't point to superior (or at least equal) quality, then protecting higher wages in the global labor market is a lost cause, and the unions then become part of the reason our manufacturing base is going to hell.<BR/><BR/>The unionSean Chercoverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00939494866272006802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-66566263669688168642007-08-25T12:13:00.000-05:002007-08-25T12:13:00.000-05:00My grandparents met walking a picket line for the ...My grandparents met walking a picket line for the ILGWU; my granny was paid 50 cents per twelve-hour day for finishing shirtwaists. The union gave my grandparents a living wage; they worked their guts out making quality clothes for Yuppies like me for fifty-seven years. When they were old, the union helped them spend a month in the country each summer, in an old resort the ILGWU bought and madeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-27465153947785748622007-08-25T11:25:00.000-05:002007-08-25T11:25:00.000-05:00Exactly, Michael. The union movement seems as cor...Exactly, Michael. The union movement seems as corrupt as Washington.<BR/><BR/>But I asked for something optimistic, damnit...Sean Chercoverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00939494866272006802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-14505350503534381182007-08-25T09:39:00.000-05:002007-08-25T09:39:00.000-05:00Gore would further split the Democratic vote if he...Gore would further split the Democratic vote if he threw his hat in the ring, so maybe he'll have the good sense to stay out of it.<BR/><BR/>As for Made in America--I bought a Ford once, after my Datsun died. That Ford (bought new and carefully maintained) was the worst vehicle I've ever owned. (I've had Datsuns, a Toyota, and a Chevy.) I'm driving a VW now, and every time I bring it in for an Michael Dymmochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06424057697796493279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-52076732611433727782007-08-25T01:27:00.000-05:002007-08-25T01:27:00.000-05:00I'm growing more irked each day that Gore doesn't ...I'm growing more irked each day that Gore doesn't throw his hat into the ring. Things look bleak.<BR/><BR/>Say it ain't so, Gore.Spy Scribblerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14299551957327543491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-8398861847010946402007-08-24T19:16:00.000-05:002007-08-24T19:16:00.000-05:00I have several American Apparel T-shirts, and they...I have several American Apparel T-shirts, and they're fantastic. Don't know if they're unionized, but they are made in the U.S., "sweatshop-free."Sue T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/18178527899514406682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-66944443204166079432007-08-24T15:59:00.000-05:002007-08-24T15:59:00.000-05:00An Obama Girl? So, the operation took. Congratulat...An Obama <I>Girl</I>? <BR/><BR/>So, the operation took. <BR/><BR/>Congratulations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com