Happy Labor Day, 2018.

Happy Labor Day in Illinois 2018

My Latin American friend Ernesto swung his new hybrid Escalade into the driveway the other morning and once again shook his head disapprovingly at my sign in the front yard.

“What is this doing here in open display, my friend?  It makes you both look so…so...very low class.”

Ernesto was chastising my wife and me for keeping a red, white, and blue sign that displayed “Proud Union Home” in front of our house.  Ernesto does not live in an area where such signs would be tolerated, nor would anyone ever likely see one.  There are codes to follow in Ernesto’s gated compounds, and there are the unspoken taboos.

You might remember Ernesto from several posts ago, when he disciplined me on the wrongness of contracts and the rightness of possible Illinois governors:

http://pension-vocabulary.blogspot.com/2013/06/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-ja-x.html

Collective what?...Are you joking?

This Monday, on Labor Day, Ernesto will celebrate with his family and friends, but it is very likely he will NOTcelebrate Labor Day.  Not in the traditional or even the authentic sense. Like the Chicago Tribune, which commemorated Labor Day a couple of years ago with praiseful editorials about the benefits of work for the soul and spirit, most of Ernesto’s people will avoid the real history.  Ignore the real significance.

And the Tribune will pay some lip service to the qualities of work and a day off for workers, and it wouldn’t be unlike the editorial board to make a passing neutral reference to the JANUS decision.  But Collective Bargaining?  Public pensions? Health Benefits? Equal Pay? Contracts as promises?  Workplace Safety? Costs of living? Not likely.  Not with any fondness.  

According to the United States Department of Labor, “the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers.  It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country” (http://www.dol.gov/laborday/history.htm).  

I think it’s always rewarding and refreshing for Ernesto to visit my “side” of town – not for Ernesto, but for myself.  I learn a lot more…

The origins of Labor Day are obscured by the variety of movements at state levels to recognize the good work of all of us, and eventually those sentiments coalesced into a federal observation of a holiday.  Even as early as 1885, various municipal ordinances were being written to celebrate workers’ contributions.  Oregon was actually the first state to pass a law of such recognition in 1887; however, by 1894 nearly two dozen other states had adopted similar laws recognizing a day to honor workers.  By 1909, the Sunday before the Labor Day Monday was reserved nationally as Labor Sunday, dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.  

 Many argue about the actual individual responsible for the first Labor Day observance, but make no mistake about it: it was a union member or union official.  Some consider one Matthew McGuire the founder of the holiday across the river in New Jersey, while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. Matthew was a machinist and member of Local 244 (International Assoc. of Machinists).

Others ascribe the incentive for the holiday to a Peter McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and later co-founder of the American Federation of Labor.  I favor Peter only because of his supposed words defending such a holiday to honor all those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.” 

Ernesto couldn’t have said it better.  Actually, Ernesto would never have said it.  

The first proposals of the holiday outlined a basic form for the observance and celebration, and remnants of that festivity are still observed in many towns and villages. Parades were considered the first order of business, followed by drinking and barbecues.  Children danced their last moments of summer freedom, and neighbors gathered to share a respite from the hard work of building a nation, day-by-day and brick-by-brick.  Of course, it was also a jamboree tailor-made for lengthy speeches by politicians seeking labor’s backing.   

Still is.  Have a wonderful celebration of Labor Day. 

Continued Update on Trump's Family Separations

Continued Update & Actions by Indivisible Chicago

Action 1: Family Separations Update

On June 20, Trump signed an Executive Order ostensibly ending his administration's policy of separating migrant children from their families at the U.S. border. A federal court decided in Flores v. Reno in 1997 that the government cannot detain an immigrant child beyond a reasonable amount of time, defined in 2014 as 20 days. The Zero Tolerance policy clashed headlong into Flores with disastrous results captured in news stories. The administration has said it will now abide by the 20 day limit on detention but it’s also pushing for Congress to pass legislation that allows families to be detained beyond the 20-day limit and is making plans for further separations. Without the limitations set by Flores, migrant children and their families can be detained together indefinitely.

As of last week, the Trump administration states that there are still 528 children in government custody without their family (down from 565 on August 16).  Of these, 139 have parents who allegedly indicated a desire against reunification, 343 have parents presently outside the U.S., 29 have parents who have been released to the interior, and 17 have parents who have been red flagged for case review. 

The administration has officially agreed to a Reunification Plan with five processes:

• Identify and Resolve Safety/Parentage Concerns
• Establish contact with parents who have been removed from the United States
• Determine parent’s intention for child
• Resolve immigration status of minors to allow reunification
• Transport minors to their respective countries of origin 

HOW YOU CAN HELP

The following organizations are working to care for the children, reunite them with their families, and push our government to improve its lackadaisical response to the crisis it created. Follow the links below for more information and ways to help. 

• ACLU ACLU.org/families-belong-together
• Immigrant Defenders immdef.org/donate
• Lupe lupenet.ourpowerbase.net/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=18
• Neta netargv.com/2018/06/06/take-action-help-asylum-seekers-at-the-us-port-of-entries-rio-grande-valley
• Texas Civil Rights Project TexasCivilRightsProject.org
• RAICES ActionNetwork.org/groups/raices-refugee-and-immigrant-center-for-education-and-legal-services

Monsanto Eradicates Weeds and Us

Good Morning from Monsanto.  Snacks for All!

HT: NS

Have you been wandering along the aisles in Menards or Lowes, or Home Depot and seen the white plastic bottles of Roundup layered on pallets like rows of shark teeth waiting to be purchased at reduced prices?  

My last post warned about the continuing poisoning of ourselves and especially our children with the chemical, glyphosate, in Roundup.  Here’s another look in specifics at what levels we're feeding to our children, friends, or ourselves:

From the Holistic Health Journal:

“In the United States, glyphosate was deemed safe for public use in 1974 and since then has been applied on crops by farmers. The most popular product that contains glyphosate as a main ingredient is Roundup, a product made by Monsanto. It is marketed not only towards farmers, but also heavily promoted towards people who have gardens at home. However, glyphosate, may not be as safe as the marketing claims suggest. Different studies have actually linked this herbicide to cancer and other health problems. ^[1]

“According to a 2013 study published by Thongprakaisang, et. al., glyphosate caused the growth of breast cancer cells in humans. Glyphosate was found to be an “endocrine-disruptor”, meaning it has detrimental effects on the body’s hormones, specifically on estrogen. High levels of estrogen is known to cause hormone-dependent breast cancer, where in breast cancer cells multiply and spread in the presence of estrogen. ^[2]

“According to an FDA- registered laboratory, popular American food contained worryingly high levels of glyphosate. Recent evidence suggests that glyphosate can pose a threat to human health at very low levels of 0.1 parts per billion (ppb). The laboratory found that popular snacks sold in most supermarkets had glyphosate levels between 289.47 and 1,125.3 ppb.

“Other countries all over the world, specifically the European Union, are more strict regarding glyphosate exposure – with the “safe” limit placed at 0.3 mg per kilogram of body weight per day compared to the US 1.75 mg/kg/bw/day. Here are the values of glyphosate content reported by the laboratory:

Call your Representative and Senator.  Inform that person you are concerned at the personal level as well when your neighbor is spraying Roundup around the yard and garden without any self-protection or comprehension of the breeze’s spread to your yard and children.

 Or?  Call your favorite snack company?  We are off Triscuits…and Nabisco.

Sure, I'm Being Poisoned, But My Grass Looks Great!

HT: Nick

OR A CHILD, FOR THAT MATTER?

How Long Does …

Kurt Vonnegut once opined before his death that humankind would, like yeast, die in “our own  shit.”  Kurt took a longer view of the likelihood; but that was well before the advent of GMO’s, Monsanto’s stranglehold on the world’s thoughtless backyard gardeners and collective farmers, and the dangers of a Trump EPA.  

Back in March of 2017, I posted a piece about the insidious and pervasive accumulation of the cancerous causing ingredients in Monsanto’s Roundup, namely glyphosate.  As of today, we have a report indicating that the eventually lethal and destructive element has entered the food chain of especially vulnerable children sitting at the morning breakfast table and having a “good” breakfast before going off to school.  Old guys like me are no longer developing.  My myelin sheaths are as hard and callous as armor on an sinful Arthurian knight.  But a child? Porous membranes and sweetly awaiting whatever you’d like to introduce to its nervous system.  

Alexis Temkin, a Ph.D. toxicologist with the Environmental Working Group, has written today, “Popular oat cereals, oatmeal, granola and snack bars come with a hefty dose of the weed-killing poison in Roundup, according to independent laboratory tests commissioned by EWG.

"You kids can play in a few minutes."

“Glyphosate, an herbicide linked to cancer by California state scientists and the World Health Organization, was found in all but two of 45 samples of products made with conventionally grown oats. Almost three-fourths of those samples had glyphosate levels higher than what EWG scientists consider protective of children’s health with an adequate margin of safety. About one-third of 16 samples made with organically grown oats also had glyphosate, all at levels well below EWG’s health benchmark.

“Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, the Monsanto weed killer that is the most heavily used pesticide in the U.S. Last week, a California jury ordered Monsanto to pay $289 million in damages to a man dying of cancer, which he says was caused by his repeated exposure to large quantities of Roundup and other glyphosate-based weed killers while working as a school groundskeeper.”

Like the many suits that followed the first win against the smoking industries that tried to parry all thrusts by sickened people with the argument that no conclusive evidence was ever found in scientific research, of which they had furnished and paid for – there will be more suits coming against Monsanto and its German parent company Bayer.  

The finding indicated greater numbers of the chemical found in oat-based foods, from energy bars to our old Quaker familiar and friendly face. 

18.9 billion pounds used in the world since 1974

“Each year, more than 250 million pounds of glyphosate are sprayed on American crops, primarily on “Roundup-ready” corn and soybeans genetically engineered to withstand the herbicide. But when it comes to the food we eat, the highest glyphosate levels are not found in products made with GMO corn.

“Increasingly, glyphosate is also sprayed just before harvest on wheat, barley, oats and beans that are not genetically engineered. Glyphosate kills the crop, drying it out so that it can be harvested sooner than if the plant were allowed to die naturally.”

Letting little ones play with Cheerios may not be the best idea anymore.

Meanwhile, like those emboldened by so many broken rules and regulations given the White House and its new swamp of characters: “There were good people on both sides.”  The companies who are under scrutiny with this new revelation of glyphosate in our foods and especially our children’s are simply reminding us that they have done nothing wrong; in fact, they are under the levels of recommended by the current EPA.  

“The Environmental Working Group is disappointed that General Mills and the Quaker Oats Company have brushed aside consumer health concerns raised by new research that found the cancer-causing weed killer glyphosate in Quaker Old Fashioned Oats, Quaker Dinosaur Egg Instant Oatmeal and Cheerios.  

“The companies claim that the levels of glyphosate remain within the regulatory levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency. Below is a statement from EWG President Ken Cook:

“We are deeply disappointed by the tone-deaf response of General Mills and the Quaker Oats Company to the news that EWG research has found a toxic weed killer in their products at levels of concern to human health—especially the health of kids.

“Simply stated, there is far too much glyphosate in their products for parents to feel comfortable feeding them to their kids.

“It is especially disappointing because these two multi-billion dollar companies can take the simple step of telling their oat farmers to stop using glyphosate as a harvest-time desiccant on their crops. That simple step will reduce or eliminate the contamination and ensure the safety of American families that consume their products. The oat products we tested from a number of other companies had glyphosate levels well below our children’s health-protective benchmark, so it is possible to produce and sell foods that do not contain unsafe levels of glyphosate.

“General Mills and Quaker Oats are relying on outdated safety standards used by a government agency that is notorious for neglecting new science on chemicals.  Our view is that the government standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency pose real health risks to Americans – particularly children, who are more sensitive to the effects of toxic chemicals than adults.”

I’ve just written my exhausted Senators and Representative who are currently knee deep in Supreme Court, the wall, the separation of children, the Russian intervention, etc.  I begin with Kurt’s observation in less profane concepts, but one urging immediate investigation.

You should too.

Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachthani?

An Elegant Eulogy

A recent interactive history of the fumbling starts and stops by humans to handle the oncoming crisis of climate change is replete with hope and remindful of our sadly inherent and political shortcomings.  

The narrative by Nathaniel Rich in the New York Times is “a work of history, addressing the 10-year period from 1979 to 1989; the decisive decade when humankind first came to a broad understanding of the causes and dangers of climate change.  Complementing the text is a series of aerial photographs and videos, all shot over the past year by George Steinmetz.  With support for the Pulitzer Center, this two-part article is based on 18 months of reporting and well over a hundred interviews.  It tracks the effort of a small group of American scientists, activists and politicians to raise the alarm and stave off catastrophe.  It will come as a revelation to many readers – an agonizingly revelation = to understand how thoroughly they grasped the problem and how close they came to solving it. (Editor’s note by Jake Silverstein)”

The scientific writer(s) of this continuing Cassandra complex understand that it now will take the unfortunate stings of climate change’s effects to awaken the younger generations, to mobilize and counter the elders who have long ignored or procrastinated for many reasons.  Like the children of Parkland who have faced the issue dead on, our progeny will be likely left to pick up whatever pieces remain.  (Cassandra was given the power of prophecy by an amorous Apollo, but when rebuffed he cursed her with the inability to convince anyone of her vision's accuracy).

“The world has warmed more than one degree Celsius since the Industrial Revolution.  The Paris climate agreement – the nonbinding, unenforceable and already unheeded treaty signed on Earth Day in 2016 – hoped to restrict warming to two degrees.  The odds

Houston Underwater

of succeeding, according to a recent study based on current emissions trends, are one in 20.  If by some miracle we are able to limit warming to two degrees, we will only have to negotiate the extinction of the world’s tropical reefs, sea-level rise of several meters and the abandonment of the Persian Gulf.  The climate scientist James Hansen has called a two-degree warming ‘a prescription for long term disaster.’  Three-degree warming is a prescription for short term disaster; forests in the Arctic and the loss of most coastal cities.  Robert Watson, a former director of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has argued that three-degree warming is the realistic minimum.  Four degrees: Europe in permanent drought; vast areas of China, India and Bangladesh claimed by desert; Polynesia swallowed by the sea; the Colorado River thinned to a trickle; the American Southwest largely uninhabitable. The prospect of a five-degree warming has prompted some of the world’s leading climate scientists to warn of the end of human civilization.”

This is serious, thoughtful material.  I hope it helps all of us return to a critical conversation that has been left behind, a tragic tale with a cast of many antagonists and a distracted, compliant populace.