Labor Day! Wha???

Hey?  What are YOU doing here? 

Shouldn't you be at work? 

Oh, that's right, today is Labor Day! 

Today is the National Holiday President Grover Cleveland set aside to celebrate the existence of Unionized American Workers, Labor Unions, and Political Cronies!  
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But let me ask you this:  Do you know WHY you're home from work today? 

Do you know the reason for Labor Day, and why it's celebrated in September? 

Did you ever think about those questions?  Hmm, did ya, did ya???

If, however, you are at work today, or this evening, please accept my sincere apologies.  My wife is a Nurse, and since she has a 'real job' (defined here as 'Saving Lives, Administering care to the sick, caring for the dying, Counseling Families, and giving sponge baths to 'large, and sometimes odoriferous people') she often works Labor Day, Fourth of July, Christmas, Ground Hog Day, Thanksgiving, Arbor Day and other MAJOR national holidays.

As for the rest of us?  Oh yes, Labor Day is a day of 'leisure'. 

It is a day in which Americans celebrate "stickin' it to the man" one last time by NOT showing up for work during the waning moments of summer.

So let's take a moment to do an EXCLUSIVE Moos Room Investigation of:


"THE ORIGIN(s) OF LABOR DAY"! 
(Feel free to add your own 'Echo' as you read the prior CAPs section (above) in your mind)

Okay, we're going in...

Q.:  Who was the 'Founder of Labor Day'?

A.:  Great question, please ask another!

FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR WEBSITE:  "More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers.
.Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold."

But Peter McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York.

What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic."
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Moos Translation:  "A Demonstration and a picnic" = Dinner AND a show! 

Unions adopted the Labor Day 'concept' to prove that they were united, they could get together to drink beer, eat chicken, and get disorderly WHENEVER they wanted to and there was 'nothing' their employer could do about it. 

In 1883, a union member was quoted as saying, "BRRRRAAAAPPPP...  Oh yeah, AND we're gonna work on getting FREE health care so we don't have to pay for nothin'!"  (Sorry, I made that part up - but you know one of them was thinking it...)
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Q.:  Can you tell me about the First Labor Day?

A.:  I could, but then I'd have to kill you. 

Noooo, just kidding...  

OKAY,  SINCE YOU ASKED:   "The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.

In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a "workingmen's holiday" on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.

Moos Translation:  "Hey, how come THOSE guys got off for the day and WE didn't?  We're in a UNION too, darn it, and we want a day off!  We WANT a day off, we WANT a day OOOOFFFFFFFFF! 

Oh, and one more thing, we want FREE health care for us, I mean, errr, for all Americans!  Yeah, for ALL American Union members!

Q.:  When did 'Labor Day' become a national holiday?

A.:  On June 28th, 1894

WHAT, NO WISECRACK?  Come on people, it's a 'date'!  'Dates' are not funny things. 

Unless, of course, it's about night I first met my wife in a bar, but that is Waaaayyy out of line for a post on Labor Day.  Plus, as everyone KNOWS, it's been a LABOR OF LOVE ever since.

Q.:  Hey, how come so many other countries celebrate their 'International Worker's Day' in May (a.k.a.:  May Day), and we're stuck with the first Monday of September?

A.:  President Grover Cleveland didn't want blood in the streets of major U.S. cities while he was in office... 
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? 

According to Wikipedia:  "In countries other than the United States and Canada, resident working classes sought to make May Day an official holiday and their efforts largely succeeded.

For this reason, in most of the world today, May Day is marked by massive street rallies led by workers, their trade unions, anarchists and various communist and socialist parties." 

Getting Unions, Anarchists, Communists, and Socialist together to 'throw down' for a day?  Now THAT does sound like a party!!! 

"God bless them," Pelosi said, "for their spontaneity. It's independent ... it's young, it's spontaneous, and it's focused. And it's going to be effective." 

Oops, sorry, wrong century, that quote was Nancy Pelosi talking about the "Occupy Everything" movement...  When you're talking about Socialists, Anarchists, Union Labor, Socialists, and Communists, they all sound alike after a while.

CONTINUING FROM WIKIPEDIA:  "The first Labor Day celebration was held on September 5, 1882, and was organized by the Knights of Labor. The Knights began holding it every year and called for it to be a national holiday, but this was opposed by other labor unions who wanted it held on May Day (as it is everywhere else in the world).

After the Haymarket Square riot in May, 1886, President Cleveland feared that commemorating Labor Day on May 1 could become an opportunity to commemorate the riots.

Thus he moved in 1887 to support the Labor Day that the Knights supported."

Moos Translation:  To quote Jim Morrison and the Doors, President Cleveland was trying to avoid the following (which he feared would arise if US Labor Unions celebrated the May 1st date):

"Blood in the streets in the town of New Haven
Blood stains the roofs and the palm trees of Venice
Blood in my love in the terrible summer
Bloody red sun of fantastic L.A.

Blood screams the pain as they chop off her fingers
Blood will be born in the birth of a nation
Blood is the rose of mysterious union

There's blood in the streets, it's up to my ankles
Blood in the streets, it's up to my knee
Blood in the streets in the town of Chicago
Blood on the rise, it's following me"


As an aside, I found the 'Official DOL Labor Day Poster of 2009'.  You can view it by clicking HERE.  

I mention it because I'm sure you'll want to print out a copy and stick it up on your wall today (make sure you have a few darts handy)! 

I couldn't find the 2010 - 2013 DOL Labor Day Posters, perhaps the guy who drew the last one from 2009 was laid off? 

Whoa, can you SMELL the irony???

In conclusion:

If you have a good day today, hug a Teamster!

If you have a bad day today, keep it to yourself, I'm on vacation!

If you are a Union Member, THANKS for the day off, Comrade Worker!

If you are a Non-Unionized Employee, thanks for doing your job every day and not whining about it!

If you work in a mixed work environment (in a Management AND Craft (a.k.a.:  Union shop)) like I used too, well, you have my sympathies!  Don't get a grievance filed on you!  Smile and just say 'thanks' to the Shop Steward for not writing you up!

If are an SEIU Member planning on attending a Town Hall Meeting, here's your sign!



If you are Jim Morrison, I'm sorry that you're not with us any more, although those lyrics dude, what was up with those lyrics? 

If you are looking for someone to thank for all the "Hope" and "Change" which you've been living through lately? 

Just look below, look for the Union Label!



And while I'm thinking about the Union Label, how could I possibly leave out 'The Ladies International Garment Workers Union'?  (Although, isn't MOST of the clothing we buy today manufactured off-shore in third-world countries?  Huh, I wonder why that is?)

Maybe the 'Union Label' just cost too much?  Boy am I GLAD that the most successful Unions remaining are building our cars (for the government) and teaching our kids! 

There's some peace of mind for you to end the post with..

Just Keep Swimming...

Associated Press, August 24, 2012:  WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats want to cause a stir — or at least stay in the conversation — while the spotlight is on Republicans next week at the GOP convention in Tampa.

President Barack Obama and his campaign are seeking to counter Mitt Romney's message and try head off any dramatic climb for the Republican challenger in post-convention polls, staging events around the nation next week.

Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will campaign in four battleground states and Obama's campaign will hold events around the country aimed at attracting women voters. The "Romney-Ryan: Wrong for Women" events will start with the Women Vote 2012 Summit in Las Vegas on Saturday with appearances by White House advisers Valerie Jarrett and Cecilia Munoz and actress Natalie Portman and include similar gatherings aimed at women voters in seven cities next week.

...

Phil Singer, who helped coordinate Democrats' message during the 2004 Republican convention, said it's always difficult to "crash the other side's party" because the convention carries with it a captive media audience, primetime programming and tens of millions of dollars behind the high-profile speeches.

But Singer said "in a media environment that's on steroids as this one is, any time you're not feeding the shark, the shark is feeding on you."

Wow.

Interesting use of the metaphor, Mr. Singer.  

I pulled the above quotes from an article I found on Yahoo.com this morning.  There's more, of course, but as I'm moving my son back to college this morning, I won't be able to discuss it here.  That's one of the advantages to not being able to sleep past 5:30am, you can do 'stuff' while everyone in the house above you is doing nothing... 

But here's the thing:  I found some 'other stuff' online this morning that appears to be oddly consistent with the message conveyed above.  I found it in an interesting place, my favorite site, the Occupy Wall Street Home Page.

Remember the opening line from the article above?  WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats want to cause a stir — or at least stay in the conversation — while the spotlight is on Republicans next week at the GOP convention in Tampa.

Yes ladies, gentlemen, boys, and girls, time to issue the casting call for...


The Useful Idiots


Oh, look, here they come now.

From the site:  August 26th Day of Action – Women’s Equality Day
Posted 1 day ago on Aug. 23, 2012, 7:52 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Tags: dnc, feminism, nyc, rnc

Call to Action via Women Organized to Resist and Defend. Occupiers across the country are organizing in solidarity; we encourage everyone who can to attend! In NYC, we will gather at 47th St & 6th Ave at 1pm.
 
On Women’s Equality Day, August 26 – on the eve of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, which will be immediately followed by the Democratic National Convention - women and their allies will take to the streets of Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Chicago and other cities across the country in defense of women's rights.
 
August 26th - Women’s Equality Day - commemorates the 1920 passage of the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote. Winning the right to vote was an important victory, but the struggle for full equality continues. Celebrate Women’s Equality Day by taking to the streets and demanding full equality now. Honor the women who fought for the rights we’ve won and continue the struggle for full equality.

...

So while they’re convening and concocting new ways to attack our rights and our lives, let’s come together in the streets to stand up and fight back!
 
There will be mass demonstrations in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities around the country. We will mobilize thousands in the streets to show the world that there is a new women’s movement rising and we will not go back.
 
We believe that access to reproductive choice – the basic right of women to control our own bodies – is a fundamental right and must be defended. We believe in equality. We support working women.

We are tired of the right wing trying to turn back the clock and take our hard-won rights away. All people who support equality and choice should organize with us and help these actions grow. 


If you can’t make it to protest in Tampa and Charlotte, join or organize a protest in your community. There is a long, proud tradition of women in the United States mobilizing and fighting to win equality and respect. Let’s continue this legacy this summer!

"We need to take things into our own hands..." O-k-a-y?

The Republican National Convention is taking place in Tampa starting August 27th. The Coalition to March on the RNC encourages you to join us and stand in solidarity as we march at the RNC to fight back against the political elite and the 1% agenda.
 
As of now, we are a Coalition uniting groups from around the country to say NO to this political system that only works for the 1% and therefore are marching at the Republican National Convention to let our voices be heard.

Together we stand to march for good jobs, healthcare, affordable education, equality and peace.

...

For too long people have suffered while the rich got richer. We say money for human needs, not on wars overseas and corporate greed. Together, we are planning a 5000 strong march at the first day of the convention on Aug 27th. We have hundreds of national and local organizations such as Code Pink, Veterans for Peace, Get EQUAL, Dream defenders, United National Antiwar Coalition, Occupy Tampa, Occupy USF, Occupy Pensacola, Occupy Tallahassee and more endorsing us and we would love for all Occupy Assemblies to come down to Tampa to join and/or endorse our coalition. Only through unity is there strength.

We will be encouraging people to sleep at Occupy Tampa's Voice of Freedom park or at these parks that allow camping for a nominal fee [Editor's note: Please be aware that a tropical storm system, potentially a hurricane, is expected to effect Tampa during the Convention. The RNC isn't telling people not to go to Florida, so neither are we. But you should check with organizers about alternatives in case of flooding.]

[Moos Note:  Dear Occupods, in case of flooding - "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..."]

We will be rallying at Perry Harvey Sr. Park, located at 1200 N. Orange Ave Tampa, FL, at 10 am and will be marching from the park through the streets of Tampa to "Protest RNC Square" at around noon. See here for the parade route.


Could any one else be looking to keep attention OFF the Republican National Convention to help President Obama to "head off any dramatic climb for the Republican challenger in post-convention polls"?

Hey, here comes another school of U.I.'s, courtesy of the Communist Party USA site:

Again with the 'War on Women' theme?  I wonder who started this?

Huh, again with the 'War on Women' theme.  Seems odd that there's so much debate about it, this election year, doesn't it?

WHY all the "War"?  WHY all the "Division"?  WHY all the fringe and radical groups uniting against mild-mannered-minding-their-own-business-while-exchanging-business-cards-Republicans meeting in Tampa, Florida?

Hold on, I think I've got it...

Ta Da!  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee! 

When the siren call for assorted Communists, Occupiers, Party Crashers, Activists, and Malcontents goes out, no one brings them all together like the Democratic Party does.

It's a Party like no other. 

But hey, people will judge you by the people you hang out with, don't you know that?  Oh, that's right, they don't, as evidenced by the folks YOU guys continue to hang with.

Come on DCCC - why all the Hysteria over the RNC? 

Can't we all just get along?


"Come on people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together and love one another right now..."

Right 'freaking' now, or we'll Occupy you.

Mission Accomplished?

Remember when Leaders of Major Political Parties didn't encourage citizens to 'occupy' property, to prevent people from going to work, or to damage private / public property? 

Yeah, me neither.  I can't remember this far back.   

We've come so very far in the past three years. 

Let's step back and take an admiring look at all we've accomplished...

According to PEW Research, January 11, 2012:

The Occupy Wall Street movement no longer occupies Wall Street, but the issue of class conflict has captured a growing share of the national consciousness. A new Pew Research Center survey of 2,048 adults finds that about two-thirds of the public (66%) believes there are “very strong” or “strong” conflicts between the rich and the poor—an increase of 19 percentage points since 2009.

Source:  Pew Research Poll

Not only have perceptions of class conflict grown more prevalent; so, too, has the belief that these disputes are intense. According to the new survey, three-in-ten Americans (30%) say there are “very strong conflicts” between poor people and rich people. That is double the proportion that offered a similar view in July 2009 and the largest share expressing this opinion since the question was first asked in 1987.

...

The biggest increases in perceptions of class conflicts occurred among political liberals and Americans who say they are not affiliated with either major party. In each group the proportion who say there are major disagreements between rich and poor Americans increased by more than 20 percentage points since 2009.

While the survey results show a significant shift in public perceptions of class conflict in American life, they do not necessarily signal an increase in grievances toward the wealthy. It is possible that individuals who see more conflict between the classes think that anger toward the rich is misdirected. Nor do these data suggest growing support for government measures to reduce income inequality.

In fact, other questions in the survey show that some key attitudes toward the wealthy have remained largely unchanged. For example, there has been no change in views about whether the rich became wealthy through personal effort or because they were fortunate enough to be from wealthy families or have the right connections.

A 46% plurality believes that most rich people “are wealthy mainly because they know the right people or were born into wealthy families.” But nearly as many have a more favorable view of the rich: 43% say wealthy people became rich “mainly because of their own hard work, ambition or education,” largely unchanged from a Pew survey in 2008.

The interesting thing about this survey is that in spite of President Obama's, Vice-President Joe Biden's, and former Speaker Of the House Pelosi's coordinated attacks on Capitalism and the Free Enterprise System...  Americans are aware that people are wealthier than others - but they don't BLAME them any MORE for their wealth in 2011 than they did in 2009.

I guess we live in interesting times when a polling organization feels the need to determine if we HATE successful people more now than we did previously.  In spite of the best efforts of of US Politicians, Occupy Wall Street, Unions, Communist Party USA, and USA Nazi Party members, awareness of the concern has increased, but the anger, the vitriol, the 'hoped for' violence has not happened.   

This is most likely attributed to one of two things:

1. Democrat Party leadership legislation has tainted its message of 'Hope and Change' to the down-trodden, tired, and otherwise 'financially beaten-up' citizens of America.  You can TELL people that you're 'for them' but if you create policies to the contrary, well, most people are going catch on sooner, vs. later.
2. Or, much to the dismay of Progressive folks in places of power, Americans still believe in the American Dream.  Somehow, in spite of 50+ years of Progressives running educational institutions teaching children how "Evil America is", the dream, against all odds - survives. 

I don't know which situation applies, perhaps it is a combination of both.  The American Dream can not survive if American workers, businesses, and foreign investors fear America is destined for a 99 64/100% chance of bankruptcy.  We, of course, became 'morally bankrupt' YEARS ago, but why beat a dead horse?  The bad news is that it wastes you time, the good news is that the horse doesn't really seem to mind it so much...   

All I do know is that hearing the President ask for an additional $1.2 TRILLION to keep the government running past the 2012 elections (better sweep this under the rug NOW, lest it become an uncomfortable Election Issue), I'm thinking we should be done kicking the problem down the street.

Better yet, perhaps we should get OFF the street we're currently on? 

The Congress and White House have increased our National Debt by 43% in the first three years of the Obama Presidency.  I heard this particular bit of news from CBS (yes, Bob said it best, "the Times they are a-Changin")... 

The debt was $10.626 trillion on the day Mr. Obama took office. The latest calculation from Treasury shows the debt has now hit $14.639 trillion.

It's the most rapid increase in the debt under any U.S. president.

The national debt increased $4.9 trillion during the eight-year presidency of George W. Bush. The debt now is rising at a pace to surpass that amount during Mr. Obama's four-year term.    Source:  CBS News
  

'Spending yourself' into prosperity hasn't worked EVER in the history of mankind - despite what Paul Krugman over at the New York Times says. 

I know this to be true as I've spent more than I've earned for YEARS.  If spending your way to prosperity worked, I'd own Rhode Island.  Only problem with owning Rhode Island?  As it turns out, it's NOT actually an island.  Don't believe me, look it up!  Dang, that ain't right...

On second thought, I've got to spend MUCH more money so I can buy Manhattan.  I'm pretty sure that it IS an island, but unfortunately, I think it'll be big-time expensive.  I'd better spend a LOT of money soon, 'cause with all that Global Climate Change going on, Manhattan's gonna be a reef within the next ten years.

Man, I just can't get a break...  Anybody know how much mountain ranges are going for - I may need to set my sights a bit higher.

"See ya flatlanders..."

16 + 9 = 50,000

Photo By Gus Ruelas, AP

NEW YORK (AP) 11/30/2011 — The overnight police raids in Philadelphia and Los Angeles that dismantled two of the nation's biggest Occupy Wall Street encampments leave just a few major "occupations" still going on around the U.S. But activists are already changing tactics and warning of a winter of discontent, with rallies and marches every week.

The camps may bloom again in the spring, organizers said, and next summer could bring huge demonstrations at the Republican and Democratic conventions, when the whole world is watching. But for now they are promoting dozens of smaller actions, such as picketing the president in New York and staging sit-ins at homes marked for foreclosure.

...

On Wednesday, masked sanitation workers hauled away 25 tons of debris from the lawns around Los Angeles City Hall after police raided the protesters' camp in the middle of the night and arrested more than 300 people. In Philadelphia, dozens of police patrolled a plaza outside City Hall after sweeping it of demonstrators and arresting 50.

In the past few weeks, police broke up encampments in such cities as Portland, Ore., Oakland, Calif., and New York, where the sit-down protests against social inequality and corporate excesses began in mid-September.

...

The Occupy movement is beginning to follow a familiar pattern, said Todd Gitlin, a sociologist at Columbia University and an authority on social movements. He noted that the 1960s anti-war movement grew gradually for years until bursting onto the world stage during the election year of 1968.

He predicted big rallies around the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., and the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.

Until then, "I think there will be some kinds of occupations, but I don't think they'll be as big and as central," Gitlin said...


"All we are saying, is Give Peas a Chance..." 
(This has nothing to do with this post, but I enjoy singing sooooooo much...)

Okay, a couple of things regarding the above:

First things first:  The quote from the AP story, should alarm Democrats a LOT, "The Occupy movement is beginning to follow a familiar pattern, said Todd Gitlin, a sociologist at Columbia University and an authority on social movements (Moos Note i.e.:  'social movements' as in pooping on Police Cars?  Actually not ONLY police cars, but on the sidewalks as well with VIDEO). 

He noted that the 1960s anti-war movement grew gradually for years until bursting onto the world stage during the election year of 1968."  

So why should the party of Obama, Reid, Weiner, Frank (I love it when 'Weiner' and 'Frank' are so close together in a sentence), Progressives and Pelosi be concerned?  Well, if this particular 'familiar pattern' follows through as it has in the past, I'm thinking, `1968' as an example:

The United States presidential election of 1968 was the 46th quadrennial United States presidential election. Coming four years after Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson won in a historic landslide, it saw Johnson forced out of the race and Republican Richard Nixon elected.

The election was a wrenching national experience, conducted against a backdrop that included the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and subsequent race riots across the nation, the assassination of presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, widespread demonstrations against the Vietnam War across American university and college campuses, and violent confrontations between police and anti-war protesters at the 1968 Democratic National Convention as the Democratic party split again and again.  (Source:  Wikipedia)

Yes, it's true, you always hurt the one you love. 

And sometimes, you actually kill him / her / it.  (Hopefully, this is the exception, rather than the rule...)  

Second things second:  I ought to clarify the title of this post.  I read that the OWS folks in LA left behind 25 TONS of trash when they were 'asked nicely' to leave their 'occupation' site.  LA Sanitation workers swept, boxed, and carted away 25 TONS of debris from this happy group's dung-heap, which they gleefully referred to as, home. 

So, I began thinking. 

There was something tickling the back of my mind as I typed the beginning of this 'once nameless' post.  It was a thing I knew long ago, and while I didn't get the title exactly right, I was able to find it on YouTube with a little help from Google.

SIXTEEN TONS, Tennessee Ernie Ford, 1956 


Tennessee Ernie Ford has given us 16 tons.

16 tons + 9 tons = 25 tons

25 tons x 2,000 lbs. per ton = 50,000 liters, um, I mean, POUNDS

Yeah, I guess when you have to explain it, it's not as 'genius' as I thought it was. 

But I never said I was a genius - I said I was a cow.

There is a difference.  Most people like cows.  Only a very few like geniuses. 

And, if you removed the genius' Mom and Dad's input to the "Do you like geniuses?" survey, almost NO one likes a genius.

Geniuses designed the following:



"Ouuuuuuch"




No refrigeration required!




Hey kid, see you on The Biggest Loser!!!




Functional AND Stylish!!!




That's not what I expected.
No, it's really s-not.

 Have a nice weekend folks!