No Worker Is Illegal

Within SEIU (Service Employee International Union) there is a struggle going on about what position for labor on the immigration issue.

Inter-Zionist Squabble

Zionist groups wrangle as a number of groups sponsor a tour of Israeli soldiers telling tales of human rights abuses in Gaza and thw West Bank.

Santa is in the House

The top 5 Wall Street firms will give out bonuses between $36-44 BILLION* this holiday season! This along with Robert Nardelli's $210 million golden parachute as well as other obscenities from the cleptocracy have brought howls from the likes of the New York Times, NPR and other liberal organs. This at a time when real wages are on the decline and services in the public sector continue to be slashed in the name of fiscal responsibility.

The problem from this vantage point is similar to the above mentioned on the war. Liberal flak and even some Republican populists gnash the teeth on a regular basis but when it comes to actually confronting these issues-free trade, Wall Street and corporate largesse-the NY Times/NPR/Democratic Party leadership and supporters tack in the opposite direction. This is why a principled left party is needed here that can regularly advocate positions on the abolition of wage-slavery, nationalization of key industries, a socialized health and education system, a real Social Security/pension system. This way the rad/lib group can choose between a party that actually helps maintain a conservative system and one that will act as a catalyst for real social change.

*An estimate from the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern.

Democrats and Iraq, Blah, Blah, Blah

This weekend there was lots of talk from Nancy Pelosi and other misleaders on how Congress "might" cut off funding when the Bushies escalate the war. This is a sop to the anti-war sentiment in the country but will not occur. The Democrats in the House showed how bold they would be when electing leadership in December. John Murtha, the veteran hawk turned dove would have been the ideal standard bearer for an orderly withdrawal position but he was soundly defeated by the pro-war hawk Steny Hoyer who will now as Majority leader speak for the escalation position. The Democrats are now playing their historical role (at least in the 20th century) when it comes to intervention; talk the talk of peace and pacifism but when it comes to the vote and action to side with the interventionists and war party.

How the NY Times has hyped the surge.

Transparency

Global trade talks. Where major decisions are made without much input from the hoople. Another example of the eroding power of the nation state and the use of republican institutions to reign in capital.

Asparagus + Mastication = Stench

Why?

Libya to Build Saddam Statue

Muammar to pay homage to a fellow despot.

The First "Socialist" Senator

Bernie Sanders takes office.

Hugo

James Petras on how Hugo keeps Wall Street happy.

A counter-attack by a Chavezista.

Do You Have This Year's Out Of Control World Leader Finger Puppet?

Finger this.

Saddam's Life and Regime

Pat Cockburn on the life of Saddam and his regime both at home and abroad.

Facelift for the Cult of Personality

Kim escalates the cult. Bringing back that old time religion.

The Origins of Gringo

A] This derogatory Spanish term for a white English-speaking person does indeed have interesting stories linked to it, the one you mention probably being the most common, though most versions of the tale name the song as Green Grow the Rushes, O. Some tellers prefer to associate the song with Irish volunteers serving in Simon Bolivar’s army in the early 19th century, or to American troops attempting to track down Pancho Villa in Mexico in 1916-17, all of whom were supposedly singing from the same song sheet (the last of these often mentions Black Jack Pershing, since to attach a famous name to a story improves its credibility no end). Other tales link gringo with the green uniforms (hence green coats) that were worn by American troops of the period, who might have been urged by the locals “green go home”.

The real story is rather more interesting, since it takes us to two continents and involves four languages. A medieval Latin proverb referred to something unintelligible: Graecum est; non potest legi (“It is Greek; it cannot be read”). Shakespeare borrowed it in Julius Caesar: “Those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but for mine own part, it was Greek to me.” It’s the origin of our modern saying “it’s all Greek to me”.

The Spanish version of this Latin proverb was hablar en griego, literally to talk in Greek, and hence to speak unintelligibly. This was known in Spain no later than the last decades of the eighteenth century. Esteban de Terreros explained in his dictionary of 1787, El Diccionario Castellano, that “gringos llaman en Málaga a los estranjeros, que tienen cierta especie de acento, que los priva de una locución fácil y natural castellana; y en Madrid dan el mismo, y por la misma causa con particularidad a los Irlandeses” (“Foreigners in Malaga are called gringos, who have certain kinds of accent that prevent them from speaking Spanish with an easy and natural locution; and in Madrid they give this name to the Irish in particular for the same reason”). He explained that gringo was a phonetic alteration of griego.

The first recorded use of the word in English is in 1849, which does rather suggest it was the Mexican War that brought it to the attention of Americans. It appears in the diary of John Woodhouse Audubon, the son of the wildlife illustrator, who recorded on 13 June in that year that “We were hooted and shouted at as we passed through, and called ‘Gringoes’”. As his diary wasn’t published until 1906, public notice of the word in America more probably first came about through a book by one Lieutenant Wise of the US Navy that appeared in January 1850: Los Gringos; or, an inside View of Mexico and California, with Wanderings in Peru, Chili, and Polynesia.

Here's the article. Notice the new link in "For Your Amusement" on your right entitled World Wide Words.

Non To 2007

French protest New Year. Finally someone takes a stand on the world's greatest problem: the advance of time!

Thuggery Begats Thuggery

The muderous tyrant Saddam Hussein is dead. Good ridence to this thug of biblical proportions. Look at the picture for why this is a bad idea. Annonymous goons stringing up the former potentate in a dungeon of undisclosed place. Giving the state this kind of authority only encourages them. Down with the death penalty.

Dirty War Witness Gone Missing

A second witness has "disappeared" in Argentina during a trial dealing with military officers involved in the "dirty war" that sent thousands to brutal deaths in the late 70's and early 80's. The Argentine military was particularly cruel in their suppression of trade union, liberation theologists, student radicals and other assorted leftoids of the 70's. With US support in earnest.

A Gift Fom Smooth B

Just somthin for the ladies a this time of holiday merriment.

Burleigh: The Roughest Street in Milwaukee

They have to grow up fast in my hood!

UAE Bans PJ's at Work

As of the first of the year Civil Servants will be banned from wearing pyjamas to work. Here at the plant PJ's have also been deemed socially acceptable atire. The levelling impulse run amok?

Virgin Birth

Komodo dragons don't need to do it to pro-create.