Jobs! Wages! Workers! Yeah, No.

Andy Puzder (YouTube).

Andy Puzder (YouTube).

All those people who thought Trump would be just ever so dandy for jobs, and the rights and wages of workers? Yeah, you can go screw yourself, because it will be much more gentle than what the incoming administration has in mind. I’ve posted about the new Labor Secretary before, and it was quite clear that he doesn’t think much of workers. Just in case that wasn’t quite plain enough, a bit of background on Puzder’s attitudes towards those worthless workers has surfaced.

The Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s parent company CEO has already come out against a $15-an-hour minimum wage on a recent radio interview with the horrible Hugh Hewitt. An op-ed in the Orange County Register  found a way to applaud the Puzder pick as someone who will somehow bring about wage growth. If you believe the Trumpbros, not only are you getting a businessman, but you’re getting a good, God-fearing man.

But a better, more revealing look into his views comes courtesy of a December 2009 interview stored in Cal State Fullerton’s Center for Oral and Public History (COPH). Allison Varzally spoke with Puzder at Carl Karcher Enterprises in Carpinteria for COPH’s Southern California Food Culture and Visionaries project.

[…]

Trump’s labor man also had choice words for Carl’s Jr.’s home state. “I think the big change in California, it’s really become a kind of socialist state,” Puzder opined. “You can’t be a capitalist in this state, and Carl was at heart a capitalist who created a company that to this day bears his initials.” The would-be Labor Secretary complained about regulations and overtime laws, claiming workers are overprotected.

“Have you ever been to a fast food restaurant and the employees are sitting and you’re wondering, ‘Why are they sitting?'” Puzder asked. “They are on what is called a mandatory break [emphasis his].” He shared a laugh with the interviewer, saying the so-called nanny state is why Carl’s Jr. doesn’t open up any new restaurants in California anymore.

Having been one of those workers who could, on occasion, be found sitting, resting screaming feet for a few moments, no, I have never wondered about why employees are sitting. Employees, they are human beings, who should be treated with respect, if nothing else. It’s not like a 10 or 15 minute break is a sudden luxury trip to the Bahamas. It’s barely time to slurp down a coffee or two, and just maybe, cram some sort of food in your mouth, as you frantically chew, trying not to choke, as you have to be back at station, now. I guess people with billions at their back just aren’t terribly empathetic. Golly, there’s a shock.

The above is from Gabriel San Roman’s article at OC Weekly. I’m going to adopt Mr. San Roman’s use of Pendejo-elect, and Pendejo after 1/20/17. Pendejo Trump. Sounds about right.

Add that to the existing list of problematic values for someone who is poised to head the U.S. Department of Labor, which as Mother Jones reports, “exists to ‘foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers,’ as well as to ‘improve working conditions’ and ‘assure work-related benefits and rights.’”

Even before the release of this 2009 interview, Puzder was on record as an opponent of raising the minimum wage. He suggested in 2014 that increasing the minimum wage would hurt low-wage workers. At that time, he was earning 291 times more than minimum-wage employees working for his fast-food chains.

Puzder’s company was also hit with a class-action lawsuit in 2013 for “allegedly failing to pay its general managers overtime, even while requiring them to be on call 24 hours a day,” according to Law 360.

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich slammed Puzder as “anti-worker” during a CNN panel earlier this month. He pointed to the fact that “The Department of Labor came into his restaurants and found that half his restaurants had wage and labor violations that violated the law of the United States.”

Via Raw Story.

The Inauguration Huckster.

Donald Trump with Pastor Paula White (Photo: Facebook).

Donald Trump with Pastor Paula White (Photo: Facebook).

Take a good look at the background in that photo.

In 2007, TV preacher Paula White got investigated by the U.S. Senate for her shady fundraising practices.

Ten years later, she will pray at Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Yes, really.

White is a televangelist with a huge audience and a knack for stirring controversy. She’s been a Trump booster for years, and she helped organize a summit for him in the early days of his presidential campaign with other televangelists. Her presence at the inauguration is a very strong indicator that Trump’s White House will be a safe space for the Christian right’s most controversial characters.

Think of Paula White’s ministry as the church version of Trump University. She preaches the prosperity gospel, an approach to Christianity that is, shall we say, unorthodox. Prosperity-gospel preachers teach that God wants people to be rich, and that he makes them wealthy as a sign of his blessing and favor; the richer you are, the more God loves you.

[…]

While Grassley was investigating White, Trump was praising her. CNN quoted him in a broadcast aired Nov. 26, 2007, describing her in glowing terms.

“Paula White is not only a beautiful person, both inside and out, she has a significant message to offer anyone who will tune in and pay attention,” Trump said. “She has amazing insight, the ability to deliver that message clearly, as well as powerfully.”

White has expressed similar sentiments about Trump, once describing him as “a diamond that reveals a new facet each time it is turned in the light.”

And during Trump’s campaign, she vouched for his saintliness.

[…]

As The Daily Beast detailed last year, the overlap between Trump’s and White’s message is glaring. One of the sermons for sale on her website is called “Why God Wants You Wealthy.” Trump, meanwhile, wrote a book titled Why We Want You to Be Rich. Trump and God both. Why aren’t you rich already?

Via The Daily Beast.

“I think that computers have complicated lives very greatly.”

computermuseum.li

computermuseum.li

Donny is attempting to say that the whole Russia hacking thing, eh, no big deal, we should forget about it right now. Not that he’d have this attitude if Ms. Clinton had won.

Trump has cast doubt on the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russian hackers took information from Democratic Party computers and individuals and posted it online to help Trump win the election.

[…]

Asked by reporters if the United States should sanction Russia, Trump replied: “I think we ought to get on with our lives. I think that computers have complicated lives very greatly. The whole age of computer has made it where nobody knows exactly what’s going on.”

Who talks like this? I used to think that Bush Jr couldn’t string a sentence together. Now we have yet another soon to be president that can’t speak in a coherent manner, and that says all that needs to be said about his thought processes. Perhaps, if this whole age of computer has everyone so damn confused, the pres-elect should get the fuck off Twitter and stay off. It occurs that if Twitter wanted to perform a sterling service, they could ban Donny. It might make his head actually explode.

Can you imagine Donny’s rant if Ms. Clinton had won? He’d probably be tweeting about how Russia should be nuked.

Trump said he was not familiar with remarks earlier on Wednesday by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who said Russia and President Vladimir Putin should expect tough sanctions for the cyber attacks.

“We have speed. We have a lot of other things but I’m not sure you have the kind of security that you need. But I have not spoken with the senators and I certainly will be over a period of time,” he said.

Ummmm…what in the fuck does that mean? (Besides the fact that Donny is, as usual, uninformed.)

Via Raw Story.

Pan Pan Has Walked On.

Pan Pan at the China Conservation and Research Centre in Dujiangyan in September 2015.

Pan Pan at the China Conservation and Research Centre in Dujiangyan in September 2015.

The world’s oldest male panda, with more than 130 descendants — a quarter of all the captive-bred pandas on the planet — has died aged 31, officials said.

Giant pandas have a notoriously low reproductive rate, a key contributor — along with habitat loss — to their status as vulnerable on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of threatened species.

But Pan Pan — whose name means “hope” in Chinese — was a prolific father, siring many cubs over the years that have gone on to have offspring of their own.

Announcing his death, the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas called it “heart-wrenching news” and said the “hero father” had been suffering from cancer.

[…]

The most recent estimates show a population of 1,864 adult giant pandas in the wild, up by more than a sixth over a decade, with experts crediting nature reserves, bamboo planting, farmer subsidies and commercial programmes for the increase.

Via Raw Story.

Oh, For Fuck’s Sake. What. A. Twit.

Donald Trump again lashed out at President Barack Obama in a wounded tweet — and he was buried in online mockery.

The president-elect — who will keep using Twitter as “a really exciting part of the job,”according to his press secretary — pulled out his phone Wednesday morning to continue the feud that erupted when Obama suggested he could have beaten Trump.

Emphasis mine. Upon reading that, there was a headdesk with a bounce. A Twitter mosquito thinks he’s going to run a whole country. In light of the recent news that President Obama has been declared the most admired man of 2016, and this is the ninth time President Obama has been chosen as most admired man, I suppose we can expect that to occupy Trump’s tiny mind for some time to come.

I really, really wish this was some sort of bad joke that was going to end.

Via Raw Story.

The New Boss, Same As The Old Boss.

A YouTube video from North Dakota’s new Gov. Doug Burgum. More of the same about Standing Rock.

A YouTube video from North Dakota’s new Gov. Doug Burgum. More of the same about Standing Rock.

Damn. Think about what was possible: A governor who is framing his entire administration on innovation just dismissed the most disruptive force in his state’s recent history. That is what Standing Rock is about. Instead of saying, “What can we learn from this? What can we do together?” The new governor relied on the screen saver that was there before; the idea that powerful forces will roll over the tribe and build the Dakota Access Pipeline without interference. Thank you.

Burgum also scratched away at an old story: The Obama administration created this problem.

But his larger message is that the state of North Dakota and its corporate partners are more powerful than any tribal government. Instead of a pause, a moment to engage in a government-to-government dialogue, the new governor emphatically says the pipeline will get built soon. No. Matter. What.

“Make no mistake, this infrastructure is good for our economy,” the governor said in his YouTube video. “And it’s the safest way to transport North Dakota products. Failure to finish it would send a chilling signal to those in any industry who wish invest in our state and play by the rules.”

[…]

The new governor could have reset the law enforcement battle lines too. Nope. “As a result of the Obama administration’s refusal to uphold the rule of law on federally owned land, both our citizens and local and state law enforcement have been put in harm’s way,” he said. “These actions are putting daily demands on the scarce resources of our state and local government.”

Those daily demands are because the state of North Dakota made it so. Pick a word: defuse, de-escalate, negotiate. There were so many better alternatives, ones that were dismissed in favor of sending in the cavalry. I have interviewed many government officials over the years that successfully reduced tension instead of using the police powers of a state. In every test the state failed in this regard and the new governor is following the same path.

I had hopes that Gov. Burgum would see the potential of the Standing Rock story as one that could make North Dakota a beacon. Think about this: This moment in history has brought indigenous people together in a way that’s unprecedented. And the world is paying attention to that. What an amazing opportunity, something that could stir the imagination of investors, entrepreneurs, and governments. Potential partners in a state that found a solution by working with tribes to solve an intractable problem.

The former governor blamed social media for this global perception. But that misses the point that the Standing Rock Tribe owns the story. And that won’t change because the new governor posts a video on his account. The problem is not social media. It’s the message that the State of North Dakota will use the rule of law, the police power of a state, to roll over a tribal nation. It’s a message of brute force instead of inspiration.

Same old tired shit. Same old tired white privilege. Nothing ever changes. Mark Trahant’s full column at ICTMN.

Naked Men Have A Message for Trump and Pence…

Warwick Players: (left) Lucas; (center) Cian; (right) Tom.

Warwick Players: (left) Lucas; (center) Cian; (right) Tom.

A message, from the always fabulous Warwick Rowers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVxVRO-rLmc

The video is also available at warwickrowers.org.

As Plus previously reported, there has been a 147 percent increase in homophobic attacks in the United Kingdom since the Brexit vote, and the men’s Warwick rowing team worries the recent Trump victory will amplify this globally. So, three of its players did exactly what they had to do: strip naked and send a Christmas message to Trump and Pence themselves.

Lucas, Tom, and Cian (all members of the team) stripped in front of Westminster, the seat of British government and spoke directly to world leaders, urging them to speak against the growing resentment of minority, women’s and LGBT rights across the globe.

“We are here because we have a message for the new leadership team in the United States and for all leaders around the world,” Lucas said.

“As straight allies,” Tom chimed in. “We believe that everyone should have the same human rights, regardless of gender or sexual identity.

“And as athletes,” added Ciao, “we believe that sport can play a vital role in creating an inclusive, healthy and happy world for everyone.”

“This year, as every year,” said Lucas, “we have shed our clothes as a symbol of breaking down barriers, a demonstration of the contribution that sport can make to health and wellbeing [one or more guys flexes their guns, tenses their abs, etc], and as a reminder that we are all equals in this challenging journey called life.”

“So, President Elect Trump and Vice President Elect Pence,” Tom pronounced, “We’re sending you our world famous calendar. In it, as here, we stand naked in front of the world to do what we can to make a difference.”

Via Plus.

A Desperate Need for New Material.

Trent Bennett (Malvern Hig School).

Trent Bennett (Malvern Hig School).

Facebook, Oh Facebook XIV. A Science teacher in Arkansas has been saying nasty things about President Obama and the First Lady. You won’t need three whole guesses to figure out the nature of the remarks. Parents aren’t terribly pleased with Mr. Bennett.

Parents want an Arkansas teacher out of the classroom after he compared Michelle Obama to a chimpanzee — and then called the president a “spider monkey.”

Trent Bennett, a science teacher at Malvern High School, apparently made the comments on his personal Facebook page, reported KARK-TV.

One post refers to “Michelle Obummer … America’s First Chimp,” and the teacher then doubled down on his racist comments when a Facebook friend questioned him.

Bennett described the First Lady as a “nasty chimp,” and he called President Barack Obama a “spider monkey.”

He also complained about “monkeys” rioting after the police shootings of black Americans, and said protests during the American Revolution era were more valid because they were over taxation.

Chimps. Monkeys. You’d think a science teacher would have at least gone with ape, but I have a sneaking suspicion that perhaps Mr. Bennett doesn’t believe humans are apes. Anyroad, this comparison is as old as the hills and beyond tiresome. All you bigoted asswipes, you are in desperate need of new material. Good luck finding any, I have noted over the years that bigots aren’t terribly creative. Too much brain atrophy.

School officials have launched an investigation into Bennett’s social media activity, which they described as “inappropriate” and “insensitive.”

Parents and civil rights activists say Bennett should quit or be removed from his job over his comments.

“Someone like Mr. Bennett that has his mindset and believes this, has no business molding the minds of children that will lead us into the future,” said Rizelle Aaron, president of the Arkansas State Conference of the NAACP. “If the allegations are true, he needs to resign, if he doesn’t, then the NAACP will do everything we have legally to make sure he is terminated.”

Here’s hoping this creep does get kicked out. He has absolutely no business around children, with that amount of poison leaking out of him all over the place.

Via Raw Story.