Does your boss make you sick? (literally)

MoonHowler

devil bossgirl bad boss

Washingtonpost.com:

Having a bad boss can make your work life a misery, but it can also make you sick, both physically and mentally, researchers say.

“The evidence is clear that the leadership qualities of ‘bad’ bosses over time exert a heavy toll on employees’ health,” says Jonathan D. Quick, an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School and a co-author of the book “Preventive Stress Management in Organizations.” “The evidence is also clear that despite the rationalizations some leaders may use to defend their stress-inducing, unsupportive style, such behavior by leaders does not contribute to improved individual performance or organizational productivity.”

Research has linked having a lousy boss to an increased risk of heart attack, Quick said. Chronic stress that can result when someone must deal daily with a bad boss has been linked to high blood pressure, sleep problems and anxiety and is also associated with several unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, excessive use of alcohol and overeating.

Read More

Supreme Court: Collision of rights?

MoonHowler

boss supreme

 

Washingtonpost.com:

The Supreme Court on Tuesday prepared to hear a second challenge to President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, this time to decide whether employers must provide their workers with insurance coverage for contraceptives even if the owners say it would violate their religious principles.

What is likely to be the signature ruling of the court’s term presents the justices with complicated questions about religious freedom and equality for female workers. It could have long-term implications for what other legal requirements companies could decline because of religious convictions. And it asks a question the court has never confronted: whether the Constitution or the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) that protects an individual’s exercise of religion extends to secular, for-profit corporations and their owners.

Read More

Full Circle at last: Bob Dylan advertizes America

MoonHowler

Dear God! I have come full circle. I never thought I would live to see the day when Bob Dylan advertised for America.  Yes, Bob Dylan was the unofficial, self-appointed poet laureate of the 60’s.  He marshaled in protest and protest music like no one else.  He stood for defiance and what was wrong with America’s youth.  He stood against all our parents had fought for.  Or did he?

The bad boy of the 60’s, that gravel-throated young man who had most American parents screaming “turn that commie pinko bastard off!!!” to their kids is now the grand spokesman for America. Pool hall, suit, and somewhere, an American flag.

Bob Dylan, you have made me proud.

3 nanny states ban Thanksgiving Day shopping

MoonHowler

Huffingtonpost.com:

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Shoppers won’t be lining up for Thanksgiving Day deals at stores in Rhode Island. They can’t.

While in other parts of the country retailers will offer holiday deals starting Thursday, most big stores in Rhode Island, Maine and Massachusetts are barred by law from opening on the holiday. It’s the legacy of so-called “blue laws,” which prohibit large supermarkets, big box stores and department stores from opening on Thanksgiving.

Some business groups complain it’s an unnecessary barrier during an era of 24-hour online shopping, and there have been some recent failed legislative attempts to change things. But many shoppers, workers and even retailers say they’re satisfied with the status quo: a one-day reprieve from work and holiday shopping.

So the Blue Laws are alive and well in New England.  I hate Thanksgiving Day shopping.  I think it is horribly unfair to workers who might like to be home with their families.  However, the ban is totally nanny state.  Perhaps a less offensive way to  regulate retail business being conducted on federal holidays is to have state laws requiring businesses to pay double time or triple time wages.  That way, the workers aren’t being totally screwed.  How many people would volunteer to work on those days for that kind of money?  Probably a great many.

Read More

“Wetbacks” and “Dinosaurs”– The GOP is having a hard time getting it right

MoonHowler

don young

Yahoo.com:

 

During a discussion about ongoing challenges to the economy Thursday, Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young referred to Hispanic workers as “wetbacks,” an ethnic slur used to describe migrant workers. He has since apologized.

“My father had a ranch; we used to have 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes,” Young told Alaska public radio station KRBD. “It takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It’s all done by machine.”

Rep. Don Young of Alaska apologized for using a racist term but not before GOP leaders jumped all over him publically.   According to Latinofoxnews.com:

“I apologize for the insensitive term I used during an interview in  Ketchikan, Alaska,” Young said. “There was no malice in my heart or intent to  offend; it was a poor choice of words. That word, and the negative attitudes  that come with it, should be left in the 20th century, and I’m sorry that  this has shifted our focus away from comprehensive immigration reform.”

His remark brought a rare rebuke from U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH),  and other high-ranking party leaders, who called his comment “offensive.”

“Congressman Young’s remarks were offensive and beneath the dignity of the  office he holds,” Boehner said. “I don’t care why he said it – there’s no  excuse…”

Read More

Michigan: A new right to work state

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com

LANSING, Mich. — Even with the outcome considered a foregone conclusion, the heated battle over right-to-work legislation in the traditional union bastion of Michigan shows no sign of cooling.

Authorities in Lansing were bracing for an onslaught of demonstrators Tuesday at the Michigan Capitol as the Legislature reconvenes for what could be final votes on bills. Hundreds of people gathered early Tuesday to get inside.

“I want to try to get into the gallery. I want to see the proceedings,” said Wes Nakagiri of Livingston County’s Hartland Township, an engineer with an auto parts supplier. “I’m for the legislation, but I can see both sides.”

If it is passed and signed into law, Michigan would become the 24th right-to-work state, banning requirements that nonunion employees pay unions for negotiating contracts and other services.

“I’m for the legislation, but I can see both sides.”   It sounds reasonable to me and pretty much sums up how many folks feel–yea–both sides seem to make sense.

Read More

CTU vs Rahm Emanual: Chicago’s teachers on strike

MoonHowler

What’s it all about?  Emanual and union president Karen Lewis each tell a different story.  Lewis’s can be heard in the above video.

But when it comes to exactly what the strike it about, the stories of the city and the union vary dramatically. Shortly after Lewis finished saying that the union was striking over contract negotiations, teacher evaluations, lack of proper air conditioning, and broader pedagogical issues — such as class size and out-of-class services for poor kids — Emanuel addressed the press.

“This is totally unnecessary, this is avoidable, and our kids do not deserve this,” he said.
The mayor, who fashions himself an education reformer, wore no tie. While Emanuel usually doesn’t mince words, his anger appeared more internalized, more resolute. At moments, he appeared to be on the verge of tears. His hand shook visibly as he took a sip of water in between statements. “This is a strike of choice,” he said.

Read More

Why do the “Union Thugs” hate Nikki Haley?

MoonHowler

We had a discussion on this blog the other day about beating Pinata  Nikki Haley with stick.  Some union in South Carolina did it.  that did seem rather harsh until I heard Nikki Haley speak about it.

It sounds to me like the good governor is sort of asking for it.  “Union Thugs?”  “Beating up on the unions?”  When you talk like that, it does nothing to bring people together towards a common goal, which SHOULD be improving our economy, especially in South Carolina which has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.

Read More

Ohio Voters Reject Controversial Anti-Union Law

MoonHowler

From Huffingtonpost.com:

WASHINGTON — Ohioans overturned a divisive anti-union law on Tuesday, delivering a significant defeat to Republican Gov. John Kasich and a victory to labor unions.

Ohio voters rejected Issue 2, a ballot referendum on Senate Bill 5, a measure that restricts collective bargaining rights for more than 360,000 public employees, among other provisions. Opposition to the legislation inspired large protests from residents around the state this year.

Ohio governor John Kasich had to following to say:

“The people have spoken clearly. You don’t ignore the public. Look, I also have an obligation to lead. I’ve been leading since the day I took this office, and I’ll continue to do that. But part of leading is listening and hearing what people have to say to you.”

Apparently the average Ohio voter didn’t like the idea of dissolving labor unions.  What started off as an attempt to balance responsibility for benefits a little better ended up being an attempt by Kasich and his political cronies to union bust.  The good people of Ohio were having none of that yesterday.

Read More

When Bears Rant…..people should listen

MoonHowler

I got the following email last night.  It seemed to be more than a rant.  Often our words are careless–like when we call something people have paid in to most of their lives an entitlement, like someone is doing them a favor. 

Go Bear!

Guest post by BEAR Jones

The following is a rant, feel free to delete without reading!

I spent some time today looking over my Federal Earnings Record.

I started paying Social Security Taxes in 1959 (year before I graduated High School)

I started paying Medicare Taxes in 1966

I continued paying both until I retired in 2005

I’m 69 years old now and those A-holes in Washington say I’m in an “Entitlement Program”

I feel like I spent 40+ years paying “Retirement Insurance” premiums. Now they want to screw with the funding of these programs! I’m not even complaining about all the tax money I gave Federal , State and Local government to fund their activities.(which I’m still paying) I held up my end of the deal with the Government and they shouldn’t be allowed to change their end of the deal.

 Sorry, I needed to vent…..Bear

We all need to think before we call Social Security and Medicare ‘entitlement programs.’  It sounds like our retirees are on some sort of free hand-out program rather than something they have paid in to their entire lives. 

[Plan taken down.  Too expensive.  But the rant remains.]

Wisconsin chickens are coming home to roost

MoonHowler

From the  Huffington Post:

Democratic State Sen. Dave Hansen Wins First Wisconsin Recall Election!

Sen. Hansen’s victory is a validation of the lengths he and the rest of the ‘Wisconsin 14’ went to in their efforts to stall the Wisconsin GOP’s extreme right-wing, anti-working family agenda,” said Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee Executive Director Michael Sargeant. “His constituents understand that he fights for them, not for extreme ideologues.”

There are the nuts and bolts.  Scott Walker and crew did their best to recall Sen. Hanson’s last election  victory,  to no avail.   This victory will probably be the first of many for Democrats who stood their ground for public employees.  Wisconsin is a union state and things like what happened in Madison last winter just do not sit well. 

Three Democratic state senators  are being targeted for recall and  each have at least $140,000 in the bank, according to spending reports filed Monday with state election officials.

Insulting public employees is just not the way to  impress voters.  Walker and his gang need to find another way to balance their state budget, rather than doing it on the backs of the public employees.

 

Boeing and the Union

MoonHowler

From State Line Daily:

The National Labor Relations Board has moved to stop Boeing from building airplanes at a nonunion plant in South Carolina. The Board suggests that a unionized American company cannot, without violating federal labor law, expand its operations into one of the 22 states with right-to-work laws, which protect a worker’s right to join or not join a union.

Here is the question:  Can a company in a right to work state move or open a branch in a state that is a union state?  Is it the existence of a union in that company that makes this a National Labor Relations Board issue?

I believe this decision is dead wrong.  I can’t tell you why I think blocking Boeing is wrong, I just feel it is.  Decisions like this one makes for bad feelings about organized labor.

Susan J. Demas: Michigan’s New Motto: Blame It on the Teachers

MoonHowler

Reprinted with permission from Susan J. Demas whose guest opinion appeared in the Huffington Post.

Unless you are saving lives on the operating table or vaccinating children in Africa, it takes a certain kind of chutzpah to constantly insult and berate teachers.

Because chances are, your job is nowhere near as important as that of the folks responsible for shaping the young minds of tomorrow. That goes for lawmakers, lobbyists and yes, annoying reporters like myself.

Anyone who has to corral a bunch of sugar-addled kindergartners or try to break through to angry teenagers deserves hazard pay. Because if our kids don’t get the education they need in their early years, they are screwed. That didn’t used to be the case, when the auto industry was fat and happy and doled out jobs as high school graduation gifts.

But nowadays, if kids don’t earn a college degree, they are almost completely shut out of the middle class. Maybe an associate’s degree in a technical field will suffice. But that’s about it.

Teachers are critical to this process. So are parents, but most of them are too busy working 60 hours a week, often at a couple jobs, to teach their kids very much at home. And let’s face it. Once kids start bringing home algebra, most of us are hopelessly lost.

Read More

New Neighbor on Sudley Manor Drive

MoonHowler

Family and Friends Night at the New Sudley Manor Starbucks!

Come out Thursday night, April 14,  from 5-8 pm and  visit  the new Starbucks at 10638 Sudley Manor Drive in  Manassas Crossroads.  The new Starbucks is near Chick Filet and Walgreens and features a drive through.  The new store is also the first Starbucks to be Leed Certified:

The U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® certification program as a benchmark for success. (LEED® is short for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.)

Family and Friends events are very nice and a good way to sample new treats at Starbucks.  The store manager extended a very special invitation to Moonhowlings contributors so make sure you stop by.  Once the store is open, patrons will have improved laptop hookups, a patio, and a drive through for those who don’t have time to go in. 

See you there.  (pppssssssst  no meals tax in the county)