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.

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.

The Words of the Year.

36420394_303

Oxford Dictionaries decided on “post-truth” this time, defining it as the situation when “objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief”. In a year of evidence-light Brexit promises and Donald Trump’s persistent lies and obfuscations, this has a definite resonance. In the same dystopian vein, the Cambridge Dictionary chose “paranoid”, while Dictionary.com went for “xenophobia”.

Merriam-Webster valiantly tried to turn back the tide of pessimism. When “fascism” looked set to win its online poll, it tweeted its readers imploring them to get behind something – anything – else. The plea apparently worked, and in the end “surreal” won the day. Apt enough for a year in which events time and again almost defied belief.

Collins, meanwhile, chose “Brexit”, a term which its spokesperson suggested has become as flexible and influential in political discourse as “Watergate”. […] It nearly won out in Australia in fact, where “Ausexit” (severing ties with the British monarchy or the United Nations) was on the shortlist. Instead, the Australian National Dictionary went for “democracy sausage” – the tradition of eating a barbecued sausage on election day.

Around the world, a similar pattern of politics and apprehension emerges. In France, the mot de l’année was “réfugiés” (refugees); and in Germany “postfaktisch”, meaning much the same as “post-truth”. Swiss German speakers, meanwhile, went for “Filterblase” (filter bubble), the idea that social media is creating increasingly polarised political communities.

Switzerland’s Deaf Association, meanwhile, chose a Sign of the Year for the first time. Its choice was “Trump”, consisting of a gesture made by placing an open palm on the top of the head, mimicking the president-elect’s extravagant hairstyle.

Trump’s hair also featured in Japan’s choice for this year. Rather than a word, Japan chooses a kanji (Chinese character); 2016’s choice is “金” (gold). This represented a number of different topical issues: Japan’s haul of medals at the Rio Olympics, fluctuating interest rates, the gold shirt worn by singer and YouTube sensation Piko Taro, and, inevitably, the colour of Trump’s hair.

And then there’s Austria, whose word is 51 letters long: “Bundespräsidentenstichwahlwiederholungsverschiebung”. It means “the repeated postponement of the runoff vote for Federal President”. Referring to the seven months of votes, legal challenges and delays over the country’s presidential election, this again references an event that flirted with extreme nationalism and exposed the convoluted nature of democracy. As a new coinage, it also illustrates language’s endless ability to creatively grapple with unfolding events.

Which brings us, finally, to “unpresidented”, a neologism Donald Trump inadvertently created when trying to spell “unprecedented” in a tweet attacking the Chinese. At the moment, it’s a word in search of a meaning, but the possibilities it suggests seem to speak perfectly to the history of the present moment.

I know what meaning I would ascribe: The day of the presidential inauguration, impeachment proceedings began, and due to numerous constitutional violations, Trump was unpresidented.

Via Raw Story.

Profiles in Cowardice.

Reddit.

Reddit.

“Make America Great Again.” That phrase presupposes there are great people who happen to be Americans who will make this amazing transformation take place. I’m willing to concede that most Trumpoids are indeed great in their own minds, however, outside of that, not so much. Let’s have a look at some of these Trumpoids, all of whom are more than willing to shout “make America great again!”, and see where their paths have taken them on the way to said greatness.

Andrew Anglin -- via Wiki commons.

Andrew Anglin — via Wiki commons.

Andrew Anglin, who runs The Daily Stormer website, now says he plans to lead a march in the town aimed at Jews in the community.

“We are planning an armed protest in Whitefish,” Anglin wrote. “Montana has extremely liberal open carry laws, so my lawyer is telling me we can easily march through the center of the town carrying high-powered rifles. I myself am planning on being there to lead the protest, which has been dubbed ‘March on Whitefish.’”

According to Anglin, he claims he will be busing in “skinheads from the Bay Area,” adding, “Currently, my guys say we are going to be able to put together about 200 people to participate in the march, which will be against Jews, Jewish businesses and everyone who supports either.”

“We have to stand up to these people, and we have to force an apology,” The Forward reports Anglin wrote. “This will be an absolutely massive victory for our cause. We have never done this before.”

[…]

Prior to the 2016 presidential election, Anglin claimed that “Virtually every alt-right Nazi I know is volunteering for the Trump campaign.”

It seems that part of making America great again is to 1) be a nazi, and 2) do something about those awful Jewish people. Gee, that doesn’t sound familiar at all. :insert near-fatal eyeroll here:  Via Raw Story.

Moving on to a group profile of sorts, many of those poised for American Greatness™ were thrown off balance by Trump tweeting Happy Hanukkah to Jewish people. (It seems that all those “great” American Trumpoids have a serious mental block when it comes to Trump having a Jewish daughter and son-in-law.)

There are more blustery upsets of the MAGA kind at Raw Story.

That’s Not Nerve-wracking, No.

Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif threatened nuclear retaliation against Israel after apparently being tricked by a story on a fake news site.

Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif threatened nuclear retaliation against Israel after apparently being tricked by a story on a fake news site.

In the coming Age of Anxiety, we are going to have to pin a lot of hopes to those world leaders who are actually adults with a faculty for critical thought, and who aren’t twitter addicts. That certainly leaves the States out, but there are plenty of other contenders for Twit leaders as well.

Now it seems that another fake news story has prompted the defense minister of Pakistan to threaten to go nuclear.

The defense minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, wrote a saber-rattling Twitter post directed at Israel on Friday after a false report — which the minister apparently believed — that Israel had threatened Pakistan with nuclear weapons. Both countries have nuclear arsenals.

“Israeli def min threatens nuclear retaliation presuming pak role in Syria against Daesh,” the minister wrote on his official Twitter account, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. “Israel forgets Pakistan is a Nuclear state too.”

Yes, fake news is a serious problem. That said, is it really too much to expect those who are in a position of power and leadership to be calm and at least take out 10 to 20 seconds to verify a story? At the very least, yell at a staffer to check a story out before becoming utterly unglued and saying something stupid on Twitter.

“Our nuclear program is too serious a business to be left to Twitter-addicted politicians”, said prominent TV journalist Nusrat Javeed.

I agree, fully. Unfortunately, the U.S. will shortly have a new king president who is not only a twitter addict, he’s an extreme narcissist with the brain of a gnat. Not at all nerve-wracking.

Via NY Times and Raw Story.

Merry Christmas and Long Live the King!

Reint-a-Claus (Fritz Liess).

Reint-a-Claus (Fritz Liess).

The Twittersphere has been exploding throughout the holidays, and with good reason. Apparently, not one person in the “Trump Team” is capable of anything except gaffes, which they happily publicize all over the place, then have to rush in and try to spin it with very poor excuses. Normally, I’d say this would be a banner time for comedians, except they are in fear of all those Trumpoids, who seem to be singularly humourless.

On Sunday, the Republican National Committee (RNC) tweeted out a Christmas greeting that included a reference to a “new King.”

“Merry Christmas to all!” wrote RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and co-chair Sharon Day, according to TheHill.com. “Over two millennia ago, a new hope was born into the world, a Savior who would offer the promise of salvation to all mankind. Just as the three wise men did on that night, this Christmas heralds a time to celebrate the good news of a new King. We hope Americans celebrating Christmas today will enjoy a day of festivities and a renewed closeness with family and friends.”

Twitter users were baffled and a little horrified to see a major political party calling its Republican-elect a “king” before he’s even sworn into office.

Oh look – we now have an official godling and a king. Oh joy. The idiot lunatics are in charge. You can see some of the choicer twitter reactions at Raw Story.

A Visual Trumpmare.

Art is commentary, that’s particularly true of political cartooning. Here’s a small sample of how some artists have been feeling about the looming Trumpmare.

Trump cartoon by Norwegian Cartoonist Christian Bloom.

[evening] Happy TrumpMas.

#Trump amorimcartoons.com.br/world.html

My Cartoon Wednesday @ The Times on the new West Wing. #Trump #Tillerson #Putin.

Class and crass…#Hiroshima #NuclearProliferation

Via Raw Story.

And, from Ricardo Caté:

trumptydumpty2-001-607x485

Trumpty Dumpty.

Via ICTMN.

You can see many more cartoon commentaries at Fusion:

By David Rowe, Australia.

By David Rowe, Australia.

An Arms Race It Is!

Cult-of-Trump-4

Yesterday, Trump tweeted about how more nuclear weapons are needed, making a lot of people tense and unhappy. Your worries have just doubled down, because Trump has not had a single thought about this, just ran right into things with his brain shut and mouth wide open: now we need an arms race! Gosh, won’t that be fun.

On Friday, MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough said President-elect Donald Trump endorsed a nuclear arms race during a brief phone conversation they had with him earlier that morning.

“Mika asked the president-elect when we had the opportunity what his position was on — trying to clarify the tweet yesterday regarding the nuclear arsenal,” Scarborough said, referring to a tweet Trump published on Thursday calling for the United States to “greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.”

“And the president-elect told you what?” Scarborough said to Brzezinski.

“Let it be an arms race. We will outmatch them at every pass,” she replied. “And outlast them all.”

Trump’s statement directly contradicts the spin spokesman Jason Miller offered Thursday afternoon in an effort to downplay Thursday’s tweet — spin that interpreted Trump’s comments as merely warning about “the threat of nuclear proliferation.”

[…]

Trump’s comments Friday indicate Miller had it wrong. The president-elect is actually endorsing a nuclear arms race, not warning about the dangers of one, because he’s confident the United States would somehow always win.

Trump’s position represents a break from the nonproliferation efforts the United States has led for decades. As ThinkProgress detailed last spring, international nonproliferation agreements reduced the number of operational warheads in the world from a high of 64,452 in 1986 to 10,315 in 2015. The president-elect’s statements suggest that downward trend will come to an end.

Friday is far from the first time Trump said reckless things about nuclear weapons. During an interview last March with Chris Matthews, Trump said he was open to using nukes if the situation called for it and questioned why we’d make them if we never intended to use them. During a Fox News interview the next day, Trump wouldn’t even rule out the possibility of using nukes in Europe.

“Europe is a big place,” Trump said. “I’m not going to take cards off the table. We have nuclear capability.”

“Europe is a big place.” The sheer idiocy of this man makes me despair. Trump is the compleat ignoramus, an Ignoramus’s Ignoramus. No attention span. No knowledge. No ability to think. No mindfulness. He doesn’t read, at all. No books, no newspapers, nothing. He “skims, glances”. Christ, we are so fucked.

In response to a subsequent question about what steps might stand in the way of Trump using nukes if he becomes president, Hayden said, “The system is designed for speed and decisiveness. It’s not designed to debate the decision.”

That’s reassuring. (For the sarcasm impaired: heavy sarcasm.)

Via Think Progress.