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HAMAS OVERUNS FATAH'S KEY POSTS EXECUTES RIVALS INCLUDING CHILDREN

by NO WONDER LIBERALS LOVE THESE GUYS.

WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE?

Hamas Overruns Rival Fatah's Key Posts

Jun 14 10:46 AM US/Eastern
By DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writer

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Hamas fighters overran two of the rival Fatah movement's most important security command centers in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, and witnesses said the victors dragged vanquished gunmen into the street and shot them to death execution-style.
Meanwhile, an Israeli tank shell struck a group of siblings near the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah on Thursday, Hamas security officials said. Hospital workers said five children, all under 16, were killed.

They identified the children as members of the Abu Matrok family.

Hamas security officials said they were from the Bedouin community of Showka, east of Rafah.

The army said it would look into the report.

Hamas also seized control of Rafah in the south, Gaza's third-largest city, according to witnesses and security officials. It was the second main Gaza city to fall to the militants, who captured nearby Khan Younis on Wednesday.

Hamas captured the Preventive Security headquarters and the intelligence services building n Gaza City, major advances in the Islamic group's attempts to take over Gaza.

After the rout at the Preventive Security headquarters, some of the Hamas fighters kneeled outside, touching their foreheads to the ground in prayer. Others led Fatah gunmen out of the building, some shirtless or in their underwear, holding their arms in the air. Several of the Fatah men flinched as the crack of gunfire split the air.

A witness, who identified himself only as Amjad, said men were killed as their wives and children watched.

"They are executing them one by one," Amjad said in a telephone interview, declining to give his full name for fear of reprisals. "They are carrying one of them on their shoulders, putting him on a sand dune, turning him around and shooting."

Fatah officials said Hamas shot and killed seven of its fighters outside the Preventive Security building. A doctor at Shifa Hospital, said he examined two bodies that had been shot in the head at close range. The officials and the doctor spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Militants and civilians were looting the compound, hauling out computers, documents, office equipment, furniture and TVs.

The moderate President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, for the first time in five days of fierce fighting, ordered his elite presidential guard to strike back. But his forces were crumbling fast under the onslaught by the better-armed and better-disciplined Islamic fighters.

In all, 14 fighters and civilians were killed and 80 wounded in the battle for the Preventive Security complex, bringing the day's death toll to 25 by mid-afternoon, hospital and security officials said. About 90 people, mostly fighters but also women and children, have been killed since a spike in violence Sunday sent Gaza into civil war.

The two factions have warred sporadically since Hamas took power from Fatah last year, but never with such intensity. Hamas reluctantly brought Fatah into the coalition in March to quell an earlier round of violence, but the uneasy partnership began crumbling last month over control of the powerful security forces.

Hamas had been tightening its ring around the Preventive Security complex for three days, stepping up its assault late Wednesday, with a barrage of bullets, grenades, mortar rounds and land mines that continued until the compound fell. Electricity and telephone lines were cut, and roads leading to the complex were blocked. Hamas claimed it confiscated two cars filled with arms sent as reinforcements.

As Hamas took this major battle spoil, the Palestine Liberation Organization's top body recommended that Abbas declare a state of emergency and dismantle Fatah's governing coalition with Hamas. Abbas said he would review the recommendations and make decision within hours, said an aide, Nabil Amr.

"We are telling our people that the past era has ended and will not return," Islam Shahawan, a spokesman for Hamas' militia, told Hamas radio. "The era of justice and Islamic rule have arrived."

Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, heralded what he called "Gaza's second liberation," after Israel's 2005 evacuation of the coastal strip.

Israel was watching the carnage closely, concerned the clashes might spawn attacks on its southern border. Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz told a weekly meeting of security officials that Israel would not allow the violence to spread into attacks on southern Israel, meeting participants said.

The European Union said it suspended humanitarian aid projects in the Gaza Strip, citing the escalating violence there.

The Islamic group also had its sights on two other key command centers in Gaza City on Thursday.

In a broadcast on Hamas radio, the Islamic fighters demanded that Fatah surrender the National Security compound by mid-afternoon. Light clashes were under way there when the ultimatum was delivered.

Rocket-propelled grenades were fired toward Abbas' Gaza compound, provoking return fire from his presidential guard. For the first time since the fighting began, Abbas ordered his guard to go on the offensive against Hamas at the compound, and not simply maintain a defensive posture, an aide said.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because the situation was fluid.

Earlier Hamas fired dozens of rocket-propelled grenades at the intelligence services building. When they captured it, the fighters raised the green Islamic flag.

In Rafah, Hamas took over the Preventive Security building, according to witnesses and said Col. Nasser Khaldi, a senior police official.

"I can see the Preventive Security building in front of me. Hamas has raised its green flags over it," a civilian resident, who identified himself only as Raed, said by telephone. "There are men carrying away equipment from inside. ... (The Fatah-allied) National Security men ran away."

Gaza hospitals were operating without water, electricity and blood. Even holed up inside their homes, Gazans weren't able to escape fighting that turned apartment buildings into battlefields.

Moean Hammad, 34, said life had become a nightmare at his high-rise building near the Preventive Security headquarters, where Fatah forces on the rooftop were battling Hamas fighters.

"We spent our night in the hallway outside the apartment because the building came under crossfire," Hammad said. "We haven't had electricity for two days, and all we can hear is shooting and powerful, earthshaking explosions.

"The world is watching us dying and doing nothing to help. God help us, we feel like we are in a real-life horror movie," he said.

Shaher Hatoum, a nurse at nearby Al Quds hospital, said the facility had no electricity, water or blood, and that wounded were propped up on ward floors. Hundreds of bullets flew through windows, and fighters ignored the hospital's appeals to hold fire just long enough to have the generator and water pipes fixed, he said.

"We are waiting here for our end," Hatoum said.

Fatah has threatened to carry the fighting to the West Bank, where Hamas is weak. There have been sporadic battles in the West Bank this week, and on Thursday, Fatah went across the territory rounding up Hamas fighters in an effort to assert control.

Sheik Saleh Arrouri, a Hamas leader in the West Bank, told a radio station that Abbas called a joint meeting of the territory's Fatah and Hamas leadership in Ramallah for later Thursday.

The violence has exposed the depths of the disarray in Fatah's ranks since Hamas ended Fatah's 40-year dominion of Palestinian politics last year.

Fatah has asked Israeli permission to bring in more arms and armored vehicles, but Tzahi Hanegbi, chairman of the Israeli parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, told Army Radio that arming Fatah would be "insane" because the weapons would fall into Hamas hands.

He said Israel was considering backing Fatah forces in the West Bank, but did not elaborate.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday he discussed the possible deployment of a multinational force in Gaza with the Security Council.

___

Associated Press Writer Sarah El Deeb contributed to this report.




Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 2:10 PM

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NO TORTURE FROM TERRORISTS, JUST A BULLET TO THE BACK OF THE HEAD!

by TERRORISTS AND LIBERALS HATE TO SEE SUFFERING

THEY JUST WANT YOU DEAD.

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 2:13 PM

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But it's the crime of the century if a guard at Gitmo

by Anonymous

touches a Koran...

These poor delicate Muslims.

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 2:56 PM

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There's a Special Place for YOU in Gitmo, Moron

by Anonymous

Enjoy your stay.

Posted on Jun 16, 2007, 7:10 AM

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Brownies killing brownies over in Gaza

by Anonymous

Love it, hope they keep it up all summer.

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 10:21 AM

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zzzzzzz - we libs only consider it a tragedy when whitey kills brownie

by Anonymous

we don't give a shit about darfur, rwanda, downtown Detroit.

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 10:32 AM

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who cares about brownie killing brownie, Don Imus said nappy headed ho

by Larry liberal

eom

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 10:33 AM

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Your Humanity makes us all proud of the Species

by Homo Sapiens

You are surely at the top of the Evolutionary Ladder. Perhaps the pinnacle of intelligence in a vast universe.

We bow down before your awesome superiority.

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 11:11 AM

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ZZZZZ Now if Brownies were killing Brownies south of our border that would be a cause

by Anonymous

for CELABRATION!!!



Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 11:54 AM

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Do all you liberals understand why the Palestinians

by Anonymous

don't have a nation yet.

Animals man, fucking animals

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 1:00 PM

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And you are a God. We worship you and your creations.

by Proud Accolyte

Keep us informed.

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 10:59 PM

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Thompson is at it again

by Anonymous



http://www.utu.org/worksite/detail_news.cfm?ArticleID=36028

Typos???? half truths ???

There was NO, I repeat NO BLET in 1963. That’s when the UTU accused the BLE of selling out the firemen.

Check this out :----

“Thompson, recalling how the BLET once sought unsuccessfully to sell out the jobs of locomotive firemen in exchange for an additional $1.50 per day paid to engineers, said, "This leopard just cannot change its spots.”

Up until today Thompson’s story was that the BLE was SUCCESSFUL in selling the firemen out. Which is it ? unsuccessfull or successful ????
This skunk just can’t change its stripe and the skunk can’t stop lying.

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 9:38 AM

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Re: Thompson is at it again

by Anonymous

actually he is telling the truth today. Hard to believe isn't it? The BLE ( not BLET) was unsuccessful in selling the fireman out. 282 removed the fireman, not the BLE.

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 9:46 AM

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No he is not telling you the whole truth only what is necessary to keep you stupid

by Anonymous

October 24, 1985

Advisory Board Members
All General Chairmen U. S.
State Legislative Board Chairmen
Special Representatives
Local Chairmen U. S.

Dear Sirs and Brothers:

Three weeks ago you received a copy of a letter I wrote to UTU President Hardin outlining a new concept in railroad operating policies titled "THE LAKE ERIE IDEA." This concept is designed to benefit not only locomotive engineers but all railroad employees, since it has for its purpose the revitalizing of the railroad industry by making it possible to gain new business from its competitors in the transportation field. You will recall that In my letter I invited President Hardin to join with us in making this concept a reality and thus provide thousands of new jobs for not only BLE members but UTU members as well.

Judging by his harsh response, I can't believe that Brother Hardin fully understands our concept. It is designed to help his members -- not hurt them. I sincerely hope that he will reconsider and view our plan in the spirit in which it was intended -- for the overall good of all railroad employees in every craft.

The October 5, 1985 issue of the UTU newspaper contained some misinformation about "THE LAKE ERIE IDEA" and about BLE policies in general that cannot go unanswered. For your ready reference, here are the facts:

"THE LAKE ERIE IDEA" is a concept designed to reduce costs on new business by an estimated 60 percent in the first year and 80 percent in the succeeding years. An engineer and a co-engineer will operate the new jobs with the co-engineer's position being filled by ground service employees. The two employees would receive a significant increase in their base rates of pay, yet total labor costs would be reduced, allowing railroads to out bid non-union truckers for hauls exceeding 150 miles. The benefits from increased productivity would be shared by labor, the shipper and the company stockholders.

The Lake Erie concept is designed to protect operating
employees currently employed by freezing the current number of jobs and the number of people on them. A terminal with 50 jobs employing 200 operating employees will never have fewer people unless business decreases below current levels. New business jobs will be filed by people bidding off existing "old" jobs onto the new jobs and vacancies created would be filled by furloughed employees. If no one in a particular craft is furloughed, the vacated positions are "vacancy blanked" and again can be filled if there is a decrease in business, regardless if it is old or new business. The frozen numbers will retain a fixed number of jobs (old and/or new) employing a fixed number of people.

No one currently employed would be furloughed under the Lake Erie Plan and the total number of operating employees will increase as new jobs are added. The Lake Erie idea was designed to help all operating craft personnel and to create future positions for those who will be without jobs because of the caboose-off situation.

Brother Hardin states that the UTU has vigorously refused to even consider the carriers demands that ground crew employees agree to operate locomotives by remote control, yet the UTU National Section 6 Notice served on or about January 3, 1984 contained a provision that train or yard crews would not be required to work with a remote control locomotive operated or controlled by anyone other than a member of that train or yard ground crew.

Contrary to Brother Hardin's statement that the BLE eliminated the craft of fireman on three (3) railroads where it gained representation rights, the fact is that we changed the craft name from locomotive fireman to reserve or assistant engineer, which was beneficial to the firemen involved.

We stand behind our projection indicating a monetary loss if the UTU agreement was ratified and, in fact UTU members support this fact.

It is true that Brother Hardin came to us with a proposal that we bargain together in this round of national negotiations, however, once we discovered his intention to agree to elimination of locomotive fireman, we declined his offer.

To say that we acknowledged the UTU as the leader and that we agreed to "...lay back and wait until the [UTU] made an agreement..." is ludicrous. In fact, the BLE has met with the carriers both separately and under the auspices of the National Mediation Board twenty-four times to date.

It always amazes me that BLE members continue to be barraged with the great fireman "sell-out" myth. The fact is that the BLE spent nearly $1 1/2 million attempting to save the craft and we nearly went bankrupt in the process. We accepted a "lonesome pay" allowance only after the fireman issue was settled and the jobs were lost.

Finally, President Hardin states that he does not believe I am behind the Lake Erie Plan, that this is only a desperate attempt to get members, and that it will be rejected by our members. I want to say to you that I am 100% behind this plan, that it is not just an attempt to increase membership and that our members have not rejected this concept.

Our mail is running overwhelmingly in favor of the plan, and members who were in attendance at recent regional meetings at Phoenix and Kansas City were outspoken in their praise.

Again we say that we hope that President Hardin will re-think this concept and join with us in making it a reality. We bear him no ill - will and seek only his cooperation.

Fraternally yours,

/s/ John F. Sytsma

President

cc: Fred Hardin, President - UTU

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 3:57 PM

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Thomscum is smoking dope

by Anonymous

FranknPaul seems to forget that the tin snippers they want to merge with did the same national settlement that BLET did. Thats right, the snippers union is in the RLBC, they too dumped the half COLA that can make your HW payments go up because it was the SMART thing to do. Now FranknPaul say BLET sold out their members on the COLA when there SMART friends at the snippers did the same thing.

WHOOOPPPS, hand me that pipe pauly boy

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 7:42 PM

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Looks like POO, smells like POO, it must be POO!!!

by I like POO, do you?

?

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 9:08 PM

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This is what is in store for us and Israel if we ever

by Anonymous

let the terrorist scum Muslims beat us:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8POI5I80&show_article=1

Fatah officials said seven of their fighters were shot to death in the street outside Preventive Security. A witness, Jihad Abu Ayad, said the men were being killed in front of their wives and children.

"They are executing them one by one," Abu Ayad said. "They are carrying one of them on their shoulders, putting him on a sand dune, turning him around and shooting."

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 8:03 AM

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How the hell can you sit there posting when such atrocities are happening???

by Are you a man or a Chickenhawk???

When they write the history of how the greatest country on earth was destroyed by apathy and lack of cojones, they'll be writing about you, Chump.

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 9:50 AM

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WHAT ME WORRY? HARRY REID IS IN CONTROL! HE'S GONNA END THE WAR BY SURRENDERING.

by JUST A MATTER OF LOST PAPER WORK?

BTW, HOW COME HE HASEN'T ENDED THE WAR YET, MAYBE HE'S WAITING FOR WAR PROFITEER FEINSTEIN TO GIVE HIM A CUT OF THE LOOT?

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 12:12 PM

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Did you say WAR PROFITEER???

by Anonymous



Posted on Jun 15, 2007, 7:44 AM

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Those with the darkest fears became the most powerful

by Neo

The Power of Nightmares



This film explores the origins in the 1940s and 50s of Islamic Fundamentalism in the Middle East, and Neoconservatism in America, parallels between these movements, and their effect on the world today. From the introduction to Part 1:

"Both [the Islamists and Neoconservatives] were idealists who were born out of the failure of the liberal dream to build a better world. And both had a very similar explanation for what caused that failure. These two groups have changed the world, but not in the way that either intended. Together, they created today’s nightmare vision of a secret, organized evil that threatens the world. A fantasy that politicians then found restored their power and authority in a disillusioned age. And those with the darkest fears became the most powerful. " The Power of Nightmares, Baby It's Cold Outside.

Part 1 - Baby it's Cold Outside | 64kbps | 256 kbps | mpeg2
Part 2 - The Phantom Victory | 64kbps | 256 kbps | mpeg2
Part 3 - The Shadows in the Cave | 64kbps | 256 kbps | mpeg2

An NTSC DVD ISO is available to make burning this to DVD easier.


http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 9:54 AM

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Neocon corruption

by anonymous

The ideology of white collar crooks.
http://mparent7777-2.blogspot.com/2007/06/neocon-ii-lie-hard-with-vengeance.html

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 5:34 AM

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TEE HEE, HO HO! NEW WORLD ORDER, WHERE DO GET THIS STUFF?

by UH, OH! GOT TO GO, BLACK HELICOPTERS COMMING.

DUCK!

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 12:16 PM

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Do you deny that you put a corrupt and incompetent cabal of Necon idealogues in power?

by anonymous

Of course you do.

Posted on Jun 15, 2007, 8:50 AM

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ANSWER YOUR OWN QUESTIONS MUCH? ALL THE TIME? WE CAN HELP.

by UURR MENTAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT

CALL US SOON.

Posted on Jun 15, 2007, 11:35 PM

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Typical Pug response. Dodge and take cheapshots.

by anonymous

So you blinkered fanatic, why isn't Karl Rove on trial for treason?

Posted on Jun 16, 2007, 9:34 AM

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"why isn't Karl Rove on trial for treason?" Ask your Democrats. To hear them talk, all the

by necessary evidence is available. Where is it?

The Dems were gonna impeach everyone and save America! So what happened?

Wait! You did take that wanton criminal, Libby off the steets, but how about the leaker?




Posted on Jun 17, 2007, 7:53 PM

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The 9 worst mistakes the Necons made in Iraq

by anonymous

Unbelievable.
http://zfacts.com/p/175.html

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 5:31 AM

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HOW DO WE SOLVE THIS DILEMMA? SURRENDER! AMERICA IS BEHIND ME, WELL 29% OF THEM?

by HARRY REID

BTW, HOW COME REID HASEN'T ENDED THE WAR YET, MAYBE HE'S WAITING FOR WAR PROFITEERS FEINSTEIN, MURTHA TO MAKE A FEW MORE BUCKS AND HARRY WANTS A CUT?

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 12:33 PM

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How the Holy Rollers and Neo-cons destroyed the GOP

by Barry G

And it should be mentioned "blundered the US into the worst strategic blunder in modern history." Assholes!
http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=3763

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 9:28 PM

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TEE HEE HEE!

by Anonymous

HA HA HA HOO HA HO

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 10:23 PM

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More Than 500,000 Names On FBI Terror Watch List

by that's alot of terrists!!!

A terrorist watch list compiled by the FBI has apparently swelled to include more than half a million names.

Privacy and civil liberties advocates say the list is growing uncontrollably, threatening its usefulness in the war on terror.


http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/06/fbi_terror_watc.html

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 11:06 PM

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The Power of NeoCon Nightmares

by Anonymous

The Power of Nightmares


The Power of Nightmares is a BBC documentary film series, written and produced by Adam Curtis. The series is subtitled The Rise of the Politics of Fear. The film consists of three 1-hour parts, which were first broadcast in the UK in late 2004.

The film is arguably Curtis's most controversial film. It compares the rise of the American Neo-Conservative movement and the radical Islamist movement, makes comparisons on their origins and suggests a strong connection between the two. More importantly, it argues that the threat of radical Islamism as a massive, sinister organized force of destruction is in fact a myth perpetrated by the Neo-Conservatives in an attempt to unite and inspire their people following the failure of earlier, more utopian ideologies.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Nightmares

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 12:19 AM

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hOLLY ROLLERS AND NEO CONS PUT THEM IN POWER

by the GOP ruined themselves

under whose leadership?

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 12:09 AM

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COMPLAINING IS THE FORTE OF LIBERALS

by SOUND SOLUTIONS ARE NOT!

YOUR TALK IS CHEAP, HOW ABOUT SOME ANSWERS?

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 12:44 PM

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Massive blunders are the forte of Necons and you have to answer for the damage.

by But here are some answers anyhow.

1. Never let anyone as stupid as Bush and the Neocons get their hands on the levers of power again.
2. Do all we can to stave off defeat in the Middle East up to and probably including a partition of the country into a Kurdistan, Sunnistan and Shiastan. Up to and inclduding restarting the draft in the US.
3. If partition is the answer arm Kurdistan to the point to where it is the most powerfull force in the region. As a matter of fact do that anyhow!

My liberal friends draw paralels with Vietnam but they are wrong-this is 10 times more serious of a situation than Vietnam ever was. Why? Because the Middle East is the world's energy basket and because of the El Quada threat to the Western Populations (NO Libs! This is not a threat those despicable Neocons made up!). A retreat from the situation would be more disasterous than anything the Neocons could ever come up with and if the Dem candidate is for surrender I will vote for those Neocon screwups. Like I was telling a friend; "It's like if your idiot brother got you into a mess. You are still in the mess!" God help us!

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 3:16 PM

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YOU MAKE IT SOUND PRETTY SIMPLE, JUST CUT THE COUNTRY UP? I GOTTA THINK THE LOCALS MAY NOT

by BE SO WILLING,EACH THINKS THEY ARE IN CONTROL

ALLAH TOLD THEM. THE KURDS WOULD WELCOME THIS EXCEPT FOR THE FEAR OF LOSING THE OIL HOLDINGS LOCATED IN THE SOUTH. SO YOU SIMPLE SOLUTION IS IN FACT THAT, SIMPLE! SIMPLE MINDED THAT IS. COME BACK AFTER YOU READ SOMEONE ELSES BLOG IDEAS ON HOW TO SAVE THE WORLD.

Posted on Jun 15, 2007, 11:41 PM

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The Kurds could give a damn about the oilfields in the South.

by Get your facts straight fool!

The Kurds in the North have massive oil reserves under their feet and so do the SHIA in the South. Both saw little benefit from oil during Saddam's Sunni dictatorship. The Sunnis in the center are the ones who will get shorted when the partition becomes official. What happens to Islamic states without massive oil wealth? Well they generally become the most backwards hellholes on Earth. Too bad Sunnistan! You shouldn't have oppressed those Shias and Kurds like you did!

Posted on Jun 16, 2007, 12:20 AM

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CALIFORNIANS WILL BE ASKED TO INCREASE CONSERVATION

by Anonymous

So Teddy, Al, Barbara, Sherly, and Leanardo can waste much much more

SARAH JANE TRIBBLE,
06/10/2007
San Jose Mercury News

Californians are already the nation's most energy-efficient residents -- and they'll be asked to do more.
As the state embarks on a mission to drastically cut carbon-dioxide emissions, political and environmental leaders want Californians to use even less energy. Indeed, some advocates say becoming more efficient is the most critical part of reaching the carbon-cutting goals laid out in the state's landmark global-warming law, AB 32.
''It's going to be really tough,'' said California Energy Commission member Arthur Rosenfeld. ''I think we can just about do it.''
This challenge isn't new. Rosenfeld has been a leading champion of the energy-efficiency movement since it began in the 1970s, making simple suggestions like shutting off office lights at night and painting roofs white instead of heat-absorbing black.
California already has made great strides, passing appliance- and building-efficiency standards three decades ago. As a result, the amount of energy consumed per capita in California has remained flat. During that same period, energy use per person for the United States overall has risen 50 percent.
While the average U.S. resident uses about 12,000 kilowatt-hours a year, Californians use less than 7,000.
And unlike many other states, California also regulates how publicly owned utilities earn profits by ''decoupling'' electricity rates, essentially eliminating the financial incentive for the companies to simply sell more power to make more money.
Now, California and other states are also considering another kind of regulation to encourage residents to use less energy. In such a scenario, the companies would be financially motivated to offer rebates or other incentives to customers who install new energy-efficient appliances or turn up the thermostat on hot summer days.
''I hear a lot of people who aren't very good at energy efficiency say everything that can be done about energy efficiency has been done,'' said Peter Darbee, chairman and chief executive of PG&E Corp., the parent company of Northern California utility Pacific Gas & Electric. ''I think that's humorous.''
Many small actions can add up to big savings, Darbee and others say.
Try changing the light bulbs in your house, installing new double-pane windows, or simply buying a new lamp, suggests Neal Elliot, industrial program director at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
''If we stop waiting for the hydrogen car or the zero-energy home and we start making small choices today, those small choices can change the energy path that we choose,'' he said. ''We can end up saving a whole bunch.''
SAVE ENERGY, SAVE MONEY
State officials recommend these tips:
Get rid of the second fridge: A second refrigerator or freezer in the garage may be costing you $200 to $300 a year.
Upgrade your insulation: Adding insulation to your attic or unheated crawl space can save up to $200 a year on heating bills and help cool your house in the summer.
Retrofit your heating system: Replacing your existing system with a high-efficiency, forced-air gas system can cut your gas-heating bill up to 40 percent.
Improve your cooling system: Installing a whole house fan, which would use one-tenth the energy of a central air conditioner, would save up to $100 a year.
Look for Energy Star appliances: More-efficient refrigerators and washers can cut your electricity use for these appliances by up to 50 percent.
Seal your duct system: Leaky ducts could be losing 10 percent to 30 percent of generated heat; sealing them could save from $50 to $100 a year.
Change your windows: High-performance windows would save about $100 to $200 a year.
Rethink your lighting: You will pay $4 to $12 for a compact florescent lamp, but you could save up to $120 per lamp over a five-year period.
Source: California Public Utilities Commission



Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 12:41 PM

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I cant cut back any more! Its totally unfair

by Anonymous

I'm reading by candle light now!
I'm freezing in the winter and roasting in the summer!
I have to take the bus to save gas for my wife to drive!

The beaner family of 15 uses in one day what I use in a month!
No one is asking them (In Beaner Babble) to cut back!

Totally unfair!

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 12:54 PM

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The Progressive Majority: Why a Conservative America is a Myth

by The truth about this country.

Read the Full Report (Adobe PDF)

http://home.ourfuture.org/reports/20070612_theprogressivemajority/

For anyone interested in where the American public really stands on the big issues that distinguish progressives from conservatives -- including the issues at the forefront of today’s political debates -- “The Progressive Majority: Why a Conservative America Is a Myth” offers hard facts and analysis based on decades of data from some of the nation’s most respected and nonpartisan public opinion researchers. This is the evidence that political leaders have a mandate to pursue bold, progressive policies.

This report by the Campaign for America’s Future and Media Matters for America shows that in study after study, solid majorities of Americans take progressive stands on a full spectrum of issues, from bread-and-butter economics to the so-called “values” issues where conservatives claim preeminence.


Read the Full Report (Adobe PDF)

http://home.ourfuture.org/reports/20070612_theprogressivemajority/

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 11:00 AM

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HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO

by HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

TEE HEE

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 11:23 AM

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Who dis wit all da Hos?

by Slick Roro

Dassa powfull lotta Hos dis fool be speakin bout. Mus be da only way he gitsit.

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 9:11 PM

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Railroad Graffitti in the News

by Anonymous

Some of the boxcar art is pretty good. I gotta wonder who would spend the time and money to customize railroad property but whoever you guys are damn good show in some cases!
http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070612/NEWS01/706120324/1006

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 5:11 AM

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Can I go tag these bastards homes, cars, fences and faces?

by Anonymous

See how they like it
Get some of that good old lead based paint and let it soak into their skin real good!

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 1:08 PM

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Our pussy ass Army is stretched??

by Anonymous

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1606888,00.html

America's Broken-Down Army

How can a country of 300 million people be unable to put 150,000 troops in the field for 4 years without "breaking the Army"

Jesus Christ in WWII we had half the current population and kept a 16 million man Army/Navy in the field for 4 years.

No matter what you think of whether we should be in Iraq - the fact that we can't field 150,000 troops in the field without "breaking the Army" should concern all of us - sounds like a country more serious about Paris Hilton than it's survival


Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 11:42 PM

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Time to get your pussy ass in uniform and fight for freedom and the American way

by Unca Dick needs you

If you can still walk and shoot straight then it's your duty to serve and serve and serve again.

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 12:10 AM

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We're fighting for FREEDOM in Iraq?

by Really?

I didn't know the Iraqi's had such a strangle hold on the US that we needed to fight for our freedom. Silly me. Now I know why the republicunts wouldn't take me.

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 6:30 PM

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Army Orders 5,000 Special Reservists To Report For Screenings

by Recall Dumbya for active duty!!!

Army Reservists Ordered for Screenings

ROBERT BURNS | June 12, 2007 07:26 PM EST |



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WASHINGTON — For the first time since the Iraq war began, the Army is notifying thousands from a special category of reservists that they must report this summer for medical screening and other administrative tasks.

The decision to issue "muster" orders for 5,000 members of the Individual Ready Reserve, or IRR, is not a prelude to a new mobilization or deployment of reservists to Iraq, an Army spokesman said. Instead it is part of a new effort to fix an IRR call-up system that failed on multiple fronts early in the Iraq war.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070612/army-reservists/

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 12:14 AM

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your comparison of WW2 to the present catastrophe is ridiculous

by Anonymous

The neocon bastards picked a fight with the wrong country, won't let go of it and you expect American's to beat the recruiters doors down? The poor recruitment stats are equal to the lack of support real Americans feel for the Bush administration foreign policy nightmare.

The citizen soldiers of WW2 finished the fight Japan and Germany started with us. We didn't go looking for it. In fact the chickenhawk's and their greedy global corporatist supporters have broken the will of the country, not the Army. Didn't your momma teach you right from wrong? Americans are decent, honest hard working people, nothing like the leaders commanding the current fiasco. Americans would still do the right thing if the cause is moral, ethical and honest.

Meanwhile your lifestyle goes down the toilet while the Big Boys laugh all the way to the bank. By all means, you and your family are welcome to sign up at your local recruiter lest you consider yourselves cowards.

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 1:32 AM

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Finished the fight Germany started with us?

by Anonymous

Exactly when did Germany attack us ?

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 8:18 AM

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German Declaration of War against the U.S. - 12/11/1941

by Anonymous

eom

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 10:19 AM

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WTF is a declaration of war

by Anonymous

Germany never attacked us, was in no position to attack us.

Bin Laden declared war on us in 1998 - should we mobilize 16 million against him?

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 10:41 AM

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Hmmmm, Yes

by Anonymous

Boy, you're one smurt focker!

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 6:33 PM

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Another Dumbass know it all

by When did germany attack us?

Wow, glad you know your history.

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 6:32 PM

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On Dec 7th 1941 by default.

by you guys obviously flunked history

America's early involvement occurred on September 28, 1940, when Japan, Germany and Italy signed the Tripartite Treaty. This treaty required that any of the three nations had to respond by declaring war should any one of the other three be attacked by any of the Allied nations. This meant that should Japan attack the United States, and the United States responded by declaring war against Japan, it would automatically be at war with the other two nations, Germany and Italy.

Following the Dec 7th attack on Pearl Harbor Roosevelt asked for, and received, a Declaration of War against Japan. Germany followed on December 11th with a Declaration of War against the United States. This action was in accordance with the terms of the Tripartite Treaty signed earlier by Germany, Italy and Japan.

Go back to the facts, the u boats, the German spy networks operating in the US prior to WW2.

We we not friends with the Germans unless you consider the wealthy amoral businessmen like Prescott Bush. The British were our allies. No wonder there is such alarm over American ingnorance.

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 8:16 PM

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Sounds like you're more serious about bloviating here

by than protecting the Republic

What a chump.

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 10:57 AM

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HARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRDEE

by HARHARHARHARHARHARHARHARHARHARHARHAHARHARHARH

HAR DEE HAR HAR

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 11:25 AM

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LIberal Democrats, Illegal Invaders, Mega rich CEO's declared war on the middle class

by Anonymous

And no army has ever fought for them

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 12:58 PM

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Rising food prices take a bigger paycheck bite

by I'll drink a COLA to that!!!

Rising food prices take a bigger paycheck bite
Here's what you can do about the escalating price of groceries
By Jennifer Openshaw



Last Update: 8:13 PM ET Jun 12, 2007

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Aren't those monthly inflation reports confusing? They talk about a "core rate" which strips out food and energy. It's less than 3% per year and the "experts" are somewhat concerned. But what about food and energy? The energy story is well known and clear. But I don't think we can ignore food much longer.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/why-rising-food-prices-eating/story.aspx?guid=%7BE2C47792%2D2693%2D48BF%2D8967%2D26B070F10EBF%7D

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 8:10 PM

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A beaner family of 20 will use more food than a white family of 3 or 4

by Anonymous

I'm for giving the white family all they need and telling the bastard beaner baby machines to shit in a frying pan, cook it up, and feed their 18 little bastards!
If they dont like it the Beaner Border is a few hours away!

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 4:45 PM

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Everything goes up But there's NO inflation?

by Lying repugs

$$$$$$$$$$$

Posted on Jun 15, 2007, 10:31 AM

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We fought the BLE

by and the BLE won

http://www.utu.org/worksite/officers.htm

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 6:39 PM

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When do the guys that do the work get a seat at the table?

by ROCU/UTU/RESSQ/BLET

CEO's rule

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 8:05 PM

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and the BLE won

by We fought the BLE

Be nice if we had some of those millions of our members money back

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 6:38 PM

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You mean those 'tards that willingly handed the money over?

by what do they get for union dues paid?

eom

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 8:07 PM

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Come on ROCU spinners, let's hear it!!!!

by Anonymous

Did they snip your toungue? You're awfully quiet.

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 5:28 PM

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Re: Come on ROCU spinners, let's hear it!!!!

by anonymous

rocu is just a part of the utu

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 5:47 PM

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That reinds me Frank!

by Paul Thompson

Divert the ROCU funding to my retirement fund and pull the plug on the ROCU website.

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 9:05 PM

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Soon to have better retirement incomes!!

by Anonymous



Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 2:12 PM

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There have been many acts of Congress

by Anonymous

This is only a couple of signatures away from being reality!

Sheet Medal Workers drawing off OUR Railroad Retirement!!!

Vote no! It's not a rail union!!!

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 1:47 PM

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AMEN Brother!!

by Anonymous

They dont need the UTU, they want the retirement!!!!!

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 1:56 PM

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Thank you D E M O C R A T S!

by Anonymous

bastards!

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 2:55 PM

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"An act of congress"

by Anonymous

Thats what Paulie said when asked if the tin snippers wanted our RR retirement. Only "an act of congress" can do that. Is that part of the deal? I'm voting no!

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 1:41 PM

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What will become of Frank Wilner?

by Concerned UTU Fan

Will he survive our merger?

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 1:23 PM

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Look for my advice column in Railway Age Magazine

by Frank Wilner

I'm also volunteering for in-home care services at the Paul Thompson residence.

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 5:31 PM

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What is the projection for hurricane season in Florida?

by Anonymous

Is there a good old boy club down there for retired railroad/union CEO's?

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 8:03 PM

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Yep! And we sit by the ocean guzzling Cuba Libres by the pitcher and laughing about

by Boss Hawg

how we goodcopbadcopped you fools into poverty.

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 5:15 AM

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ALGORE DEMANDS ACTION AGAINST IRAQ, MAKES CASE FOR TERRORIST CONNECTIONS, WMD'S, PENDING

by DOOM IF AMERICA FAILS TO TAKE OUT SADDAM

OF COURSE, IT WAS 1992 AND HE WAS TRYING TO GET ELECTED. NOW IT'S 2007 AND THE SUBJECT IS GLOBAL WARMING. WHAT'S ALGORES AGENDA THIS TIME?



Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 11:34 AM

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Rift Between Army and White House Widens

by Anonymous

Rift Between Army and White House Widens

Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 07:33:09 PM PDT

Nobody wants to talk about this in the media, but it’s true: The Army hates the Bush administration, and the Bush administration hates the Army.
This is all started when the White House ordered the Army to fight a war that wasn’t necessary. And if you’ve been in the military, or know those who have, you know that this is the cardinal sin in the sometimes rocky, but always balanced relationship between the military and its civilian principals. In essence, it’s the basis of trust between the military and the civilians who control it: You don’t send us to fight when it isn’t necessary, and we’ll do whatever else you want.
While most people would see this as pretty fair, President Bush doesn’t. He wants a military that doesn’t ask for as much. That’s why his administration has begun purging the military’s top ranks of Army officers.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/6/11/213936/253

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 12:29 PM

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The Five Pillars of George W. Bush's Republican Party

by Anonymous

The best characterization of George W. Bush that I can recall ever reading comes from Al Gore’s new book, “The Assault on Reason”. Gore points out in his book, and I agree with him, that the two stereotypes of George W. Bush as a dimwitted stooge or as a religious fanatic are flat out wrong. Rejecting the idea that Bush is either stupid or truly religious, Gore characterizes Bush in a nutshell like this:



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1085129&mesg_id=1085129

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 12:31 PM

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Nuremberg Prosecutor: Guantanamo "Violates The Nuremberg Principles"

by Anonymous

Nuremberg Prosecutor: Guantanamo "Violates The Nuremberg Principles"

MIAMI, June 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. war crimes tribunals at Guantanamo have betrayed the principles of fairness that made the Nazi war crimes trials at Nuremberg a judicial landmark, one of the U.S. Nuremberg prosecutors said on Monday.

"I think Robert Jackson, who's the architect of Nuremberg, would turn over in his grave if he knew what was going on at Guantanamo," Nuremberg prosecutor Henry King Jr. told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"It violates the Nuremberg principles, what they're doing, as well as the spirit of the Geneva Conventions of 1949."

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N6B384799.htm

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 12:33 PM

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Iraq Invasion "greatest strategic disaster in recent history"

by Thank you DUHbyah and the Necons.

Iraq: 'The Greatest Strategic Disaster in American History'
By Patrick Cockburn, AlterNet. Posted October 31, 2006.

The U.S. failure in Iraq has been even more damaging than Vietnam because the opponent was punier and the imperial ambitions even greater.
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The Occupation: War and Resistance in Iraq by Patrick Cockburn (Verso, 2006).
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The following is an excerpt from Patrick Cockburn's new book, The Occupation: War and Resistance in Iraq (Verso, 2006).

It has been the strangest war. It had hardly begun in 2003 when President George W. Bush announced on May 1 that it was over: the American mission had been accomplished. Months passed before Washington and London realized that the conflict had not finished. In fact, the war was only just beginning. Three years after Bush had spoken the US military had suffered 20,000 dead and injured in Iraq, 95% of the casualties inflicted after the fall of Baghdad.

Almost without thinking, the US put to the test its claim to be the only superpower in the world. It spurned allies inside and outside Iraq; in invading Iraq Tony Blair was Bush's only significant supporter. The first President George Bush led a vast UN-backed coalition to complete victory in the Gulf War in 1991 largely because he fought a conservative war to return the Middle East to the way it was before Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. It was a status quo with which the world was familiar, and restoring was therefore supported internationally -- and in the Middle East. The war launched by his son, George W. Bush, twelve years later in 2003 was a far more radical venture. It was nothing less than an attempt to alter the balance of power in the world. The US, acting almost alone, would seize control of a country with vast oil reserves. It would assume quasi-colonial control over a nation which fifteen years previously had been the greatest Arab power. Senior American officials openly threatened to change the governments of states neighboring Iraq.

The debate on why the US invaded Iraq has been over-sophisticated. The main motive for going to war was that the White House thought it could win such a conflict very easily and to its own great advantage. They were heady times in Washington in 2002, as the final decisions were being taken to invade Iraq. It was the high tide of imperial self-confidence. The US had just achieved a swift victory in Afghanistan. The Taliban forces had evaporated after a few weeks of bombing by B-52s and the withdrawal of Pakistani support. Their strongholds in Kabul and Kandahar fell with scarcely a shot fired. To Tony Blair, believing that the US was about to fight another short and victorious war, support for Bush must have looked like a safe bet.

There was no reason why Saddam Hussein should not be defeated with the same ease as the Taliban. His army was a rabble, his heavier weapons, such as tanks and artillery, obsolete and ill-maintained. Iraq was exhausted by its eight-year war with Iran between 1980 and 1988, the humiliating defeat in Kuwait three years later and the thirteen long years of UN sanctions. If Bush and Blair had truly believed the Iraqi leader possessed the military strength sufficient to pose a threat to the Middle East through weapons of mass destruction, they probably would not have attacked him.

They were right to suspect he could not put up much of a fight. A few years earlier I had watched a military parade in Baghdad from a distance. A well-disciplined column of elite infantry marched past Saddam, standing on a raised platform near the Triumphal Arch made of crossed swords that commemorated the victory over Iran. All the soldiers appeared to be wearing smart white gloves. Only when I got closer did I realize that the Iraqi army was short of gloves, as it was of so many other types of equipment, and that the soldiers were wearing white sports socks on their hands.

Few governments can resist the temptation to fight and win a war that will boost their standing at home. It enables them to stand tall as defenders of the homeland. Domestic political opponents can be portrayed as traitors or lacking patriotism. The Bush administration had been particularly successful in wrapping the flag around itself after September 11 and later during the war in Afghanistan. It intended to do the same thing in Iraq in the run-up to the 2004 presidential election.

It was evident to very few in the US or the rest of the world that Bush was engaged in an extraordinary gamble. Even opponents of the war mostly cited moral objections to the invasion. For supporters of the attack on Iraq this was the moment that the US would lay the ghosts of Vietnam and Somalia. But history is full of examples of wars launched by great powers against weaker opponents in the mistaken expectation of an easy victory. The Duke of Wellington, warning hawkish politicians in Britain against ill-considered military intervention abroad, once said: "Great nations do not have small wars." He meant that such supposedly insignificant conflicts can inflict terrible damage on powerful states. Having seen what a small war in Spain had done to Napoleon, he knew what he was talking about.

The US failure in Iraq has been even more damaging than Vietnam because the opponent was punier and the original ambitions were greater. The belief that the US could act alone, almost without allies, was quickly shown to be wholly false. By the summer of 2004 the US military had only islands of control. The failure was all the worse because it was self-inflicted, like the British invasion of Egypt to overthrow Nasser in 1956. But by the time of the Suez crisis the British empire was already on its deathbed. The disaster only represented a final nail in its coffin. Perhaps the better analogy is the Boer War, at the height of the British imperial power, when the inability of its forces to defeat a few thousand Boer farmers damagingly exposed both Britain's real lack of military strength and its diplomatic isolation.
n many ways the guerilla war in Iraq resembled Vietnam. A year after it started I talked to US sappers with the highly dangerous job of looking for buried bombs, known as IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), usually several heavy artillery shells wired together and detonated by a long wire or by remote control. These so-called "convoy killers" were to prove a devastating weapon, causing half of US fatal casualties. The sappers explained they had received no training for the job. "I never heard of an IED before I came to Iraq," remarked one soldier. A sergeant said that he had with difficulty obtained an old but still valid US Army handbook, printed during the Vietnam war, about this type of bomb and the lethal booby traps often placed nearby to kill unwary sappers. He believed the army had not reissued the handbook, useful though it was, because doing so might appear to contradict the official line from the Pentagon that Iraq was not like Vietnam.

There should be no doubt about the extent of the US failure. General William Odom, the former head of the National Security Agency, the largest US intelligence agency, called it "the greatest strategic disaster in American history." Back in the US it took time for this to sink in. Right-wing commentators claimed that the good news about Iraq was being suppressed. US network news programs were edgy about reporting the bad news because they feared being accused of lack of patriotic zeal. The same inhibition hamstrung the Democrats during the presidential election in 2004.

The sharpest denunciations of the US debacle in Iraq first came from the US Army or its political allies. "Many say the army is broken," said Congressman Murtha, former Marine and veteran of Vietnam, in a stirring philippic on the war in November 2005. "The future of the country is at risk. We cannot continue in our present course. ... It's a flawed policy wrapped in an illusion." He added that the very presence of US soldiers was fueling the uprising and referred to a leaked British Ministry of Defense poll showing that 80% of Iraqis opposed the presence of foreign troops in Iraq.

It was the overwhelming unpopularity of the occupation among the five million Sunni Arabs in Iraq which led to the speedy start of guerilla warfare. The Shia leaders were also hostile to the occupation but were not going to oppose it in arms if they could take power through the elections. But neither Sunni nor Shia were ever going to provide reliable allies for the US. All of this became evident during the first year of the war.

Less obvious was the failure of the US to give most Iraqis a better life at the most basic level. For instance, before the overthrow of Saddam Hussein 50 percent of Iraqis had access to drinkable water, but this figure had dropped to 32% by the end of 2005. Some $4 billion was spent by the US and Iraqi governments on increasing the electricity supply, but in April 2006 this fell to 4,100 megawatts, below pre-invasion levels, which represents half the 8,000 megawatts needed by Iraq. Oil production touched a low of 1.4 million barrels a day. These figures meant that most Iraqis lived on the edge of destitution, surviving only because of cheap government rations. At least 50 percent of people who could work were unemployed. Violence was not going to end so long as there were millions of angry young men so desperate for work that they were prepared to fight in any militia or join any criminal gang.

It was not only the poor -- the vast majority of Iraqis -- who were alienated. One friend, a highly educated businessman, described listening to a US officer solemnly lecturing half a dozen Iraqis with PhDs and the command of several languages on the future of their country. One place where the US might have hoped for a sympathetic hearing was among the brokers on the Baghdad stock exchange. But in 2003 control of the exchange was given to a 24-year-old American whose main credential for the job was his family’s contributions to the Republican Party. He allegedly failed to renew the lease on a building housing the exchange, which consequently stayed shut for a year.

After six months the brokers’ frustrated fury at the US occupation made them sound more like Islamic militants from Fallujah than the highly conservative businessmen they were.

Copyright Verso Books, 2006. Reprinted with permission of the publisher and author.




Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 3:42 PM

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Necon ideology in the Early Days of the Iraq War

by Incredible blunders!

DUHbya and his starry eyed business majors mistook war for a corporate takeover.

US Diplomat Points to Neocon Ideology Behind Actions in Iraq

A veteran US diplomat who served as a government adviser in Iraq says US policy in the country at the initial stage of the occupation was driven by neoconservative ideology rather than careful preparation and clear understanding of issues.


US diplomat Robin Raphel gives evidence to a Senate Committee in April 2004. Raphel says US policy in Iraq at the initial stage of the occupation was driven by neoconservative ideology rather than careful preparation and clear understanding of issues. (AFP/Getty Images/File/Mark Wilson)
Ambassador Robin Raphel, who has been with the foreign service since 1977 and once served as assistant secretary of state, delivered her unusually candid remarks in a July 2004 interview for a relatively obscure history program at the US Institute of Peace.

It has remained unnoticed until now, when increasing numbers of Americans began to question the Bush administration's involvement in Iraq.

Raphel, who served as a trade adviser to the Iraqi government from April to August 2003, took particular issue with decisions by then administrator Paul Bremer to launch debaathification of the country and disband Saddam Hussein's military.

"What one needs to understand is that these decisions were ideologically based," the diplomat argued. "They were not based on an analytical, historical understanding. They were based on ideology. You don't counter ideology with logic or experience or analysis very effectively."

She said political pressure on professional foreign service officers was "huge" and "pervasive."

"The ideology was what has come to be called neoconservatism and the whole belief that this would be an easy war, that we would be welcomed with open arms," Raphel pointed out.

She insisted this view was cultivated by expatriate Iraqis, who had their own agenda, which they tried to impose on US officials.

Raphel said it became quickly obvious to her that the United States could not run a country that Americans did not understand.

"We were a bunch of amateurs largely except for the engineers, and even they didn't have a professional means to interface with the Iraqis, so they were missing," she said. "There was very much the sense that we were getting in way over our heads within weeks."

The US diplomat said she believed the administration of President George W. Bush went into Iraq too soon and it should have waited until the United States was able to build an international coalition.

"But there were two pressures," she insisted. "One was the clear political pressure, election driven and calendar driven. And the other was, the troops were deployed forward for Afghanistan and to let that kind of fall back and then reenergize everybody is very difficult."

But according to Raphel, it was difficult for professional diplomats to express their views because of the administration's ideological enforcers present in the country.

"Oh, yes, there were political people round and about," she recalled. "One had to be careful."

© Copyright 2005 AFP



Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 4:08 PM

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NEVER FEAR, THE NEW DEMOCRAT CONGRESS IS HERE AND IN CONTROL!

by JUST ASK THE 27% OF AMERICA THAT APPROVES

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Congress' popularity nose-dives in poll
The numbers 27 percent approve of how Congress is doing its job.

63 percent say the new Democratic Congress is governing in a "business as usual" manner.


Noam N. Levey
Los Angeles Times
June 12, 2007

WASHINGTON – Fueled by disappointment at the pace of change since Democrats assumed the majority on Capitol Hill, public approval of Congress has fallen to its lowest level in more than a decade, according to a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll.

Just 27 percent of Americans approve of the way Congress is doing its job, the poll found, down from 36 percent in January, when Democrats assumed control of the House and the Senate.

And 63 percent of Americans say the new Democratic Congress is governing in a "business as usual" manner, rather than working to bring fundamental change – a promise of the party's leaders after November's midterm election.


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the first woman to hold that position, also has failed to impress. Only 36 percent approve of the way she is handling the job, the poll found.

In contrast, 46 percent of Americans in the current poll said they approve of the way former Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich handled the job after he led the GOP into the majority in 1994.

The poll also found continued unhappiness with President Bush, whose approval ratings have been stuck below 40 percent since last year.

But public disappointment with Congress, which swelled before Republicans lost power in November, has erupted again as Democratic lawmakers have struggled to challenge the White House's management of the war.

Democrats swept into power on promises to end the war and tackle a host of popular domestic issues, including raising the minimum wage, reducing prices on prescription drugs, promoting stem cell research and ending corruption.

While Democrats have passed some initiatives in the House of Representatives, few have won passage in the Senate, where the party holds a one-vote majority.

And Bush and his Republican allies on Capitol Hill have managed to block every Democratic attempt to force a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, much to the chagrin of Democrats.

The poll of 1,183 adults was conducted Thursday through Sunday. The margin of error was plus or minus three percentage points.


Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 5:46 PM

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So your answer is "However bad we are the Dems are EVEN WORSE!"?

by anonymous

Pretty lame!

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 7:46 PM

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"Pretty lame!"

by YES, THEY ARE LAME. YOU KNOW YOUR LIBERALS!

OF COURSE THE REPUBLICANS ARE JUST AS LAME. NEVER OCCURED TO YOU THAT WE ARE SCREWED NO MATTER WHO IS IN CONTROL, DID IT? I SUPPOSE WE COULD TAKE THE EASY WAY OUT AND LET THE TINSNIPPERS RUN THE COUNTRY?

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 8:16 PM

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Correct I suppose; and there is evidence Carter had a hand in the fall of the Shah of Iran

by Anonymous

And the rise of those Khomeini crazies who are now developing nuclear bombs.
(scroll down)
http://rescueattempt.tripod.com/id24.html
This still does not let Bush off the hook for the disasterous Iraq War.
What it all points to is the fact that civilian political authorities are simply too naive to handle foreign policy and that the military should have a say.

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 5:25 AM

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IF YOU WANT TO BACK IN TIME, WHY NOT BLAME TRUMAN/UN FOR CREATING THE STATE OF ISREAL? WE

by NEED BETTER LEADERSHIP,NOT MILITARY DICTATORS

I DONT WISH THE MILITARY TO RUN THE COUNTRY, SOUNDS LIKE CASTRO OR SOME OTHER COMMIE STATE.

HOWEVER WE SHOULD LET THE MILITARY DO WHAT IT DOES BEST, KILL PEOPLE, NOT BE POLICEMEN!

A WAR CAN'T BE WON IN A LIBERAL,POLITICALLY CORRECT WAY.

Posted on Jun 14, 2007, 12:41 PM

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I dont get my paycheck from Illegal Beaners, Liberal Left or Welfare scum all the

by Democrats support with my tax money!

eom

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 1:04 PM

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Yes you do get your paycheck from illegal aliens

by Anonymous

All of us do at least indirectly. The Whole US economy is propped up by illegal workers and here is what those wild eyed liberals down at the Wall Street Journal have to say about it;
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB115100948305787940-tA5PP0Ya_9U0AlXBQQhnaDyMIYc_20060725.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top
You can bitch and moan about the negatives but the fact is the US cannot at this time do without the illegals. So why all the noise? Well some people just need someone to piss on and our scumbag politicians are only too happy to oblige.

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 2:21 PM

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Actually I think BUsh has exposed what pussies we have in the Army

by Anonymous

They can't beat of bunch of 3rd world retards, basically using land mines to fight us. But we've had a generation of boys raised by their single moms - who turned them into pussies.

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 11:44 PM

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WHAT DOES ALGoRE THINK ABOUT THE UTU/SHEETMETAL MERGER?

by HOW ABOUT HILLARY AND HARRY??????????

eom

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 3:15 PM

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I WOULD MAKE AN EXCELLENT PRESIDENT AND ENCOURAGE THE NEW UTU/TINSNIPPERS TO VOTE FOR ME

by ALGORE, FAUX PRESIDENT 2000

OTHERWISE, YOU ARE ALL DOOMED! THAT GLOBAL WARMING THING, YOU KNOW?

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 5:47 PM

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Al Whores Agenda is always Fuck the middle class tax payer!

by And Lie through your teeth

It is and always will be!

Posted on Jun 13, 2007, 1:01 PM

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Are Teamsters eying Rail Retirement assets?

by Anonymous


Are Teamsters eying Rail Retirement assets?

News reports over the weekend of the looming failure of United Airlines' employee pension plans, and the horror facing retired rank-and-file airline employees and their families as a result, should give railroaders and their families pause.

On the one hand, the Railroad Retirement fund, which pays substantial benefits in excess of Social Security, is financially sound following a recent run-up of some $7 billion in new investment income.

No railroad family need worry about the solvency of their railroad pension fund or losing the generous retirement benefits it pays -- that is, unless the Railroad Retirement fund's assets are bled off to pay retirement benefits to truck drivers.

Whoa, Nelly. What is going on here? Using Railroad Retirement trust fund dollars to pay truck driver pensions?

Officials of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, which is in the process of merging with the Teamsters Union, acknowledge that a simple stroke of three pens in Washington, D.C. (the House of Representatives, the Senate and the president) could divert billions of dollars in intended railroader pensions to retired truck drivers.

Think this potential nightmare through for a moment, because the BLE admits it could occur. According to BLE President Don Hahs, a Teamsters' raid on the Railroad Retirement fund is "impossible without an act of Congress."

An act of Congress? Holy cow. What's he really telling us?

Let's connect the dots, all of which already have been provided by the Teamsters.

For one, the Teamsters Central States Pension Plan, which pays retirement benefits to some 400,000 truck drivers, is nearly broke, according to news reports. The fund, according to news reports, already has slashed retirement payouts to its current and future retirees and canceled the ability to collect benefits earlier than age 65 following 30 years' employment.

Two, because the political future of Teamsters leaders could well depend upon solving this calamity -- regardless of who is to blame -- there is speculation that the Teamsters' leadership has its eyes on the $24.2 billion Railroad Retirement trust fund. But truck drivers can't get at that money unless -- as the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers says -- Congress chooses to open the trust fund's vault to truck drivers.

So why would the Teamsters eye the Railroad Retirement fund?

Unlike the Teamsters' Central States Pension Plan, Railroad Retirement is financially strong. The labor member of the Railroad Retirement Board recently said, "barring a sudden, unanticipated" financial jolt, "the Railroad Retirement system will experience no cash-flow problems for at least 22 years." The "sudden, unanticipated jolt" that could doom Railroad Retirement could be its having to share trust fund assets with more than 400,000 truck drivers -- and that's no mud flap.

Indeed, having to share Railroad Retirement trust fund balances with truck drivers would doom railroad families to accepting much less than they would otherwise collect during their old age. The reported calamity of the truck drivers' Central States Pension Plan would be visited upon railroaders -- but only after truck drivers helped themselves to the Railroad Retirement funds' $24.2 billion in assets.

How realistic is this potential nightmare? Realistic enough that every railroader should think long and hard about why the Teamsters are trying to bring railroaders into their truck drivers' union.

The Teamsters regularly brag about the power of their congressional lobbying. Last month, the Teamsters boasted how their president, Jim Hoffa, was invited to speak at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. The Teamsters also talk about how much money they have to spend through their political action committee, which influences the business of Congress.

No other transportation union -- EXCEPT the United Transportation Union -- has as strong a lobbying presence in Washington, D.C., as does the Teamsters. But if the Teamsters weaken the UTU, as is their stated intent, the ability of the UTU to counteract the Teamsters' grab for Railroad Retirement could be dealt a mortal blow.

Consider that if railroad unions are merged into the Teamsters, those railroad unions will have to take orders from the truck drivers who run the Teamsters for the benefit of truck drivers.

In fact, the Teamsters ruling body, its General Executive Board, is dominated by former truck drivers. Even the merger agreement between the BLE and the Teamsters does not guarantee the so-called rail division a seat on the Teamsters' General Executive Board. The merger document only says that such an appointment could possibly occur if the Teamsters' president issues an invitation.

The history of the Teamsters in permitting non-truck drivers a say in their affairs is dismal. For example, more than 11,000 Northwest Airlines flight attendants recently disaffiliated with the Teamsters because, said reports, those flight attendants were given no meaningful voice in setting Teamsters policy. Reports said they faced "strong arm tactics" and were hooted off the floor with "catcalls" and "sexist" slurs during a Teamsters convention at which those flight attendants attempted to voice opinions.

It is reasonable to fear a similar fate awaits rail unions that affiliate with the Teamsters, which, after all, is dominated by truck drivers.

When the voices of independent railroad unions are silenced, there will be nobody left to defend Railroad Retirement before Congress.

For sure, the railroads, which have always complained about the expense of funding Railroad Retirement, will not oppose a phased end to Railroad Retirement, which could be the sweetheart deal the Teamsters offer in exchange for making truck drivers eligible for Railroad Retirement trust fund balances.

Certainly a George Bush Republican administration would not stand in the way of a deal endorsed by the railroad companies. And what hope could there be for railroaders and their families under a Democratic administration and/or Democratic-controlled Congress if there were no independent and strong railroad union voices remaining to fight the Teamsters' grab for Railroad Retirement assets?

With rail unions under the control of the Teamsters' General Executive Board, there would be no railroad union voice -- or even whisper -- to be heard in Congress. Only the Teamsters' General Executive Board roar would be heard.

That's a scary thought. But it also speaks volumes of reality. It wouldn't be the first time eyes and ears were not properly attuned to present-danger warnings, as the 9/11 Commission has made abundantly clear in recent weeks.

Indeed, why else -- if not out of selfish interest to tap into the $24.2 billion Railroad Retirement trust fund -- would the Teamsters be spending so much money and exerting so much effort to entice railroaders into the Teamsters Union?

Certainly the goal of the Teamsters is NOT to encourage more freight to move by railroad -- which IS the intent of independent railroad unions.

Read, mark and inwardly digest that the Teamsters Union demanded in its most recent contract with trucking companies that those trucking companies further limit how much of their freight may be moved by more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly railroads. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

What is at stake are railroad jobs and the security of railroad families whose breadwinners spent a career working on the railroad in valid expectation of a Railroad Retirement pension.

When railroaders stick together, no amount of huffing and puffing can blow their house down. When railroaders are divided, they are in imminent danger of being conquered.

That's why, more and more, UTU members are answering the BLE knock at the door with this response: "Just how is the BLE, when under truck driver union control, going to protect my Railroad Retirement pension? Just how is it going to do that? Brother, I'm stickin' with a railroad union. I'm stickin' with the UTU."

August 2, 2004


Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 9:37 AM

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ATTENTION ALL UTU SPINNERS!!!!

by MAN YOUR POSTS!!!!

COVER THIS SHIT UP!!!

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 11:16 AM

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WHITE NITE!!! WHITE NITE!!! WHITE NITE!!!!

by Jim Jones

The evile BLET spinners are attacking us!!!!

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 11:18 AM

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SHEET METAL WOKERS WILL JOIN RAILROAD RETIREMENT

by CONCERNED

IF YOU HAVE 10-15 YEARS TO WORK, THEY WILL HAVE TO RAISE THE AGE TO COMPLY WITH SS BENEFITS. SHEET METAL WORKERS, TEAMSTERS AND WHO EVER THE LEADERS CHOOSE TO PUSH INTO RR RETIRMENT. UTU WILL NOT APPROVE THE MERGER WITH SHEET METAL WORKERS, JUST A WORD OF CAUTION ..........

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 11:22 AM

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I am a SMART Motherfucker

by UTU Zealot

I am one dumb motherfucker, too.

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 4:08 AM

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UTU Convention Cancelled

by Your UTU

Just practicing.

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 3:40 AM

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We are.....

by Anonymous



Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 2:06 AM

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Do any of these guys own a pair bibs? What about those well manicured pink hands?

by and the $300 well coifed boufants?

eom

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 2:36 AM

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Reminds me of the Last Supper

by Only these are not holy men

Looks like they are getting ready to screw the engineer again

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 11:13 AM

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We are.....

by



Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 2:04 AM

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I am.........

by



Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 1:53 AM

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Please don't insult the tin man like that!!!

by Children...cover your eyes!

LMFAO!

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 11:11 AM

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SHEET METAL FABRICATION FOR EX-CONDUCTORS 101. TODAYS LESSON, KNOW YOUR TOOL.

by UURR INDUSTRIAL ARTS ACADEMY

WITH THE INCREASING NUMBER OF NEW STUDENTS, PRIMARILY CONDUCTORS. WE WILL KEEP THE CURRICULUM SIMPLE TO FOLLOW.

TODAYS LESSON, TOOLS YOU WILL NEED.

1. A BALL PEEN HAMMER

THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING TODAYS CLASS. WE'LL SEE YOU CONDUCTORS TOMORROW.

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 7:05 PM

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'Bout time conductors learned a skill, unless filling out a signal sheet is

by considered a skill!!

For that they get an A+

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 10:20 PM

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Teacher, remember not to leave sharp objects laying about!!!

by snip snip!!!

snip snip

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 10:22 PM

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There's nothing sharp in a room full of conductors.

by Anonymous

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 12:34 AM

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Do the tin snippers have crew contits?

by Anonymous

?

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 10:33 PM

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All 12 of the tin snippers that work at a railroad

by Want crew contits

LOL

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 11:05 PM

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OMG!!! The tin snippers are going to rape RR Retirement!!!

by Anonymous

MERGER!
A merger endorsed by the AFL-CIO would bring together the United
Transportation Union (UTU) and Sheet Metal Workers International
Association (SMWIA) to form the 230,000-member International
Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers
(SMART).

The UTU board of directors voted unanimously June 11 to put the merger
before the UTU membership for ratification. If ratified, the merger
would become effective Jan. 1, 2008. Details of the
membership-ratification process have not been finalized, but it is
contemplated that ballots will be sent to UTU members by the end of
June.

In a joint statement following its vote, the UTU board said, "This is
the right merger at the right time. We have examined the merger
document carefully, questioned SMWIA officials extensively and
discussed the merger and its implications at length. We are of the
unanimous opinion that the SMWIA is a good fit for the UTU and we
enthusiastically recommend a 'yes' vote by members."

Under the proposed merger agreement, no UTU general committee of
adjustment or UTU local or UTU legislative board will be closed as a
result of this merger, nor will any UTU general committee or UTU local
lose its jurisdiction.

"The proposed SMART merger is a merger designed to boost UTU's
strength at the bargaining table, to bolster UTU's strength in
fighting off attempts by other organizations and carriers to take our
jobs, and to assure the long term financial viability of the UTU and
the United Transportation Union Insurance Association (UTUIA)," said
International President Paul Thompson.

The UTUIA would remain autonomous within SMART; but, under the merger
agreement, would have opened to it a vast new pool of potential policy
holders, allowing the UTUIA to expand and remain financially secure.

The proposed merger would create, within SMART, a Transportation
Division, whose senior officers would be those elected at the UTU
quadrennial convention in August in Hollywood, Fla. The officers would
have the same duties of international president, assistant president,
general secretary and treasurer, national legislative director, and
international vice president as they do under the UTU constitution.

The SMART Transportation Division would include the UTU's air, bus and
rail members, and the rail non-op workers now represented by the SMWIA
would negotiate in national rail negotiations with SMART's
Transportation Division.

The UTU constitution will remain intact and become a part of the SMART
constitution. It would take the approval of the SMWIA general
president and UTU International president, plus a 75 percent vote of
SMART to make subsequent changes to the merger agreement, "effectively
giving UTU veto power," Thompson said.

"An immediate benefit of the SMART merger would be access to SMWIA's
training facilities and union halls throughout the United States,"
said UTU Assistant President Rick Marceau. "The SMWIA's 186 training
facilities could be used to train local officers without imposing
hefty expenses on the locals. The SMWIA's almost 200 union halls,
meanwhile, could be used for meetings of UTU locals and UTU for Life
chapters."

UTU members also would benefit from the SMWIA's organizing expertise
and strength. The SMWIA spends some 40 percent of its receipts on
organizing, with 90 local and 30 staff organizers. This organizing
structure would assist UTU in organizing shortline railroads, bus
properties and airlines.

The combination of the UTU and SMWIA political action committees (PAC)
would create the 21st largest (of 4,000) PACs in America and the 7th
largest union PAC, increasing the effectiveness of congressional and
state legislature lobbying. Also, the SMWIA strike fund now exceeds
$50 million, which SMWIA General President Mike Sullivan says could
grow to $100 million. "Currently, the ability of rail employees to
strike is limited," Sullivan said. "But politics can change that and
we want to be in a position to act effectively against carriers."

"The AFL-CIO fully endorses your merger and wishes you every success
in the pursuit of good jobs, retirement security, strong bargaining
power, the rebuilding of America's infrastructure and a safe and
well-financed transportation system," wrote AFL-CIO President John
Sweeney in a letter to Thompson and SMWIA President Mike Sullivan.

"The UTU explored merger opportunities with a number of other unions,"
Thompson said, "including the International Association of Machinists
and Aerospace Workers, the Communications Workers of America, and the
Amalgamated Transit Union. Discussions with the SMWIA have been going
on for more than a year. The creation of SMART provides the greatest
benefit for UTU members, which should become clear from the reading of
the merger agreement."

Before the merger takes effect Jan. 1, the top three UTU International
officers will become eligible for retirement -- International
President Thompson, Assistant President Rick Marceau and General
Secretary and Treasurer Dan Johnson. "There is no benefit from this
merger that will accrue to the top three International officers,"
Thompson said. "Those who will benefit will be UTU members and those
who lead the SMART Transportation Division in the future."

Other labor organizations have indicated an interest in joining SMART
if the UTU-SMWIA merger creating SMART is ratified by the UTU
membership. Those organizations have asked not to be identified at
this time.

SMWIA President Mike Sullivan shares a special bond with the UTU, in
that he is president of the Eugene V. Debs Foundation. Debs helped to
organize one UTU predecessor union (the Brotherhood of Railroad
Trainmen) and was an officer of another UTU predecessor (the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen). Most noteworthy is
that it was Debs who first advanced the theory of union solidarity,
craft autonomy and job protection - objectives that continue to be the
UTU's guiding principles. Debs counseled that when labor embraces the
power of solidarity, "it can demand and command." The UTU was created
on Jan. 1, 1969, through the merger of the Brotherhood of Railroad
Trainmen, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, the
Switchmen's Union of North America, and the Order of Railway
Conductors and Brakemen. Subsequently, the Railroad Yardmasters of
America affiliated with the UTU. UTU's bus members trace their history
to the BRT. In recent years, commercial aviation employees have chosen
to affiliate with the UTU.

The UTU currently has some 80,000 active members; the SMWIA some
150,000 active members. The combined active membership of SMART would
restore the numbers the UTU enjoyed when it was created in 1969.

The SMWIA, representing members of the nation's building trades,
production workers, and rail and shipyard employees, traces its roots
to 1887, with rail shop workers having affiliated with the SMWIA early
in the 20th century. SMWIA members proudly stood arm-in-arm with rail
operating employees on picket lines during the Great Railroad Strike
of 1922.

The SMWIA is all about representing people and delivering better
wages, benefits and working conditions," Sullivan said. "SMART will
reflect the community of interest and philosophy that are shared by
the UTU and the SMWIA," Sullivan said.

Thompson said, "It is time to put our foot to the gas pedal and move
forward for the benefit of our members. This merger promises a better
future for our members and their families. There is every reason it
should be ratified."



Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 6:05 PM

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Do tin snippers have crew contits?

by Anonymous

?

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 6:06 PM

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JUST HOW MUCH ?

by anonymous

JUST HOW MUCH DID THE utu GET TO OPERATE YARD REMOTES ?

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 5:57 PM

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Re: JUST HOW MUCH ?

by anonymous

i think the utu got four hours pay at overtime rate,you all know they do better than the blet.

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 6:02 PM

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SO FAT BASTARD TED KENNEDY LOVES ILLEGAL ALIEN CRIMINALS

by Anonymous

AN Addition was added to the Illegal Alien Bill last week to exclude any Illegal that has committed a crime can no way get amnesty or be allowed into the country
AND THE FAT BASTARD SAID NO WAY
ROTTEN FAT SCUM!


Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 11:58 AM

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Soft Headed Repug Preznit Dumbya loves the bin Ladens

by And you morons voted for him

Ties between the Bush and Bin Laden families. The Bush and Bin Laden families have had relations for over 20 years.

http://tvnewslies.org/html/bin_laden_ties.html

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 1:46 PM

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Most 9/11 high-jackers were Saudi. Most foreign insurgents in Iraq are Saudis.

by The Bush-Saudi Connection



http://www.hermes-press.com/BushSaud.htm

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 1:50 PM

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Sen. Graham: Bush covered up Saudi involvement in 9/11

by Welcome to Bush Crime Family World

The former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee tells Salon that the White House has suppressed convincing evidence that Saudi government agents aided at least two of the hijackers.

http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/09/08/graham/index.html

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 1:52 PM

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Dumbya supports Saudis who are sending their poor to Iraq to kill Americans

by And you Traitors voted for the Idiot

Who are the foreign fighters in Iraq?
An NBC News analysis finds 55 percent hail from Saudi Arabia

An NBC News analysis of hundreds of foreign fighters who died in Iraq over the last two years reveals that a majority came from the same country as most of the 9/11 hijackers — Saudi Arabia.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8293410/

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 1:56 PM

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So, no one will talk to you and you have to talk to yourself?

by Thanks for sharing your dark and darker side.

You create a scenario to provide your "I hate America", liberal rhetoric, a forum?

Buffoon.

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 2:48 PM

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Boy are you Dumb! Repugs fuck everything up and you're still ranting about the Librels!

by State of Denial, Anyone???

Keep voting Repug. God will judge you in the end.

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 5:33 PM

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Just saying all of the above posters are the same person.

by Anonymous

Intelligent people don't use profanity or name calling. Those who do, would be ranting.


Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 6:07 PM

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"Intelligent people don't use profanity or name calling. "

by Guess that means you're a MORON

We quote YOU:

"You create a scenario to provide your "I hate America", liberal rhetoric, a forum?

Buffoon."


Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 10:24 PM

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His name was Fat! Fat Bastardson!

by Anonymous

ye haw!

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 5:05 PM

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At least he's not Dumb like your President and You

by Dumb is as Dumb does

Dumb.

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 5:35 PM

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Will the UTU member dominated ROCU now come out against the UTU/SMWIA Merger?

by Anonymous

Doubt it. Or maybe so since if the UTU merges with SMWIA, it would effectively mean the end of ROCU since their main reason of existence was to get the BLET and UTU to merge within the IBT.

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 11:04 AM

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hahaha hahs

by anon

re-read your post...you must admit that these guys have fucked things up so bad it is comical

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 11:09 AM

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rocu is against everything

by They know more than everyone else

what a fucking joke rocu is, just like TDU on the teamster side. LOOOOOSERS

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 5:55 PM

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ROCU really cares? Then, Tell me what these 2 like organizations have to hide??

by Anonymous

http://www.tdu.org/Convoy/convoynewhtml/rocu.htm

Above is the link that links ROCU to the TDU Splinter group.

http://www.utu.org/worksite/detail_news.cfm?ArticleID=21488

HHUUUMMMMMMMM!! Seems like minds think and do alike!!

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 9:33 AM

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ROCU is NOT a union.

by Anonymous

ROCU is NOT a union!! Here is thier bullshit strait from thier web site:
http://www.tdu.org/Convoy/convoynewhtml/rocu.htm

Rank and File Group Aims to Build Unity on the Rails
Ron Kaminkow, BLET Division 27
Ed Michael, Pres., BLET Division 724
Mike Prince, Legislative Rep BLET Division 724
Jeff Ruha, UTU Local 1614 Delegate
Brad Thompson, Local Chairman BLET Division 442
Jeanette Wallis, BLET Division 518
Chet Whyers, Legislative Rep UTU Local 979

April 29,2005. Railroad engineers and trainmen are coming together to form a new organization called Rail Operating Crafts United (ROCU) to promote rank and file solidarity between two unions that have been at odds for decades. We hope to end the self-destructive policies that have arisen from a long history of conflicts.

If the BLET President Donald Hahs and UTU President Paul Thompson cannot provide the kind of leadership that is needed to stand united, then the rank and file must establish a network to build solidarity from the bottom up. Any BLET or UTU member who would like to be part of this network should email ROCU at rocutoday@gmail.com .

HHHUUMMMMMMMM.....Seems that ROCU was formed by TDU, a splinter group of disgruntled Teamsters out to cause trouble for the Teamsters.(Much like the Webelows are part of the Cub Scouts...[We Belows..fitting name for a scab outfit with morals below a standing rank and file unionman][sorry to the Cub Scouts])
GEEEEEE....can anybody smell the blood of a dying utu in the waters trying to make even more trouble for the Teamsters, and therefore slinging mud at the BLE&T??
"The rank and file must establish a network to build solidarity from the ground up".....HA HA!! Sounds like little and boydspeak to the masses of dittoheads who just pay thier dues to the utu and say.."What?? Me worry??"
Just what part of NO don't you scab utu assholes understand??
We do not want to, and we WILL NOT merge with you.
You steal our jobs in the yard, and here you come thru the back door with an olive branch!!!
FU*K YOU!!!
Let the blood spill where it may!!
We are going to Engineer only on the road.
After your ranks are decimated like ours were in the yard, THEN we can get together and talk.
If you want the status quo, you better sit down on those RCO jobs you busted your ass to take. When all engineers are restored thier yard jobs then we can talk.
That aint gonna happen.
You made your bed, now sleep in it like a man!!
We're sick and tired of hearing you whine!!
KAPEESH!!??

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 9:17 AM

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ROCU is an idea. The idea that unions should be democratic

by And represent the interests of the members.

And this has the tired old men in the UTU and BLET screaming like stuck pigs!

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 9:25 PM

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ROCU is what dribbles out my ass when I eat too many fat free Doritoes.

by Anonymous

Its just a subversive arm of the utu and the TDU splinter group.

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 10:27 PM

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Who is squealing like a stuck pig

by Anonymous

The only people squealing are the UTU lovin members of ROCU that are pissed that BLET finally got off of its ass and protected the engineers on BNSF.

Fuck off UTU lovers, UTU has already shown it will fuck engineers, and even their own. Now they can fuck the tin snippers, those poor fuckers dont realize yet that they just jumped in the sack with a bunch of aids ridden herpes invested hemaphrodites.

UTU will chew them up and spit them out and then have to eat some other union. Fucking planet destroying cannabils and you think BLET is squealing? Go back to your dreams, ROCU man, nobody else wants UTU and BLET in the same room so we arent squealing like you lilly livered fucks have been since TDU and UTU invented you.

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 11:04 PM

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together

by anon

hahs and pierce wanted them together they pushed for merger......don't you remember the merged constitution they sent you...

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 6:25 AM

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Unlike the utu dicktatership, BLET is governed by the men, not Hahs.

by Anonymous

We have recalled before and we will recall again.
You're wasting your time crying about what Pierce and Hahs did before.

LONG LIVE THE THREE DISSENTERS THAT SANK THE SILVER SWORD INTO THE HEART OF THE SCAB utu!!

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 7:16 AM

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governed by the men?

by anon

not the blet.....rank and file vote would dispel all the bs we are faced with......then we could accept our leaders shortcomings


Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 7:27 AM

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I remember when the utu stabbed the BLE in the back

by Payback is a bitch!

Bitch

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 11:08 AM

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The only guys cheering about this contract do not have to work under it.

by Anonymous

Membership voting now!

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 7:48 PM

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exactly right

by anon

u got it right brother


Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 9:13 PM

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A voice of reason from the East

by Anonymous

Another GC supports the national agreement. Hey Mr. Just say no, have you ever considered that you are just always on the wrong side of the issue.

BLET Members, Conrail SAA/CSXT Northern District

Copy to: Advisory Board, General Chairmen, Wage Team (separate cover)

Brothers --

This is a reminder that in order for your Ballot to count, it must be returned by this Friday, June 15, 2007.

In beginning my third consecutive term as General Chairman, you know that I have not tried to tell you what to do on issues, opting instead for democratic expression. Nevertheless, in the face of some dangerous propaganda floating around the Internet and the Yard Office, I have finally reached the point at which I must give you strong advice:

WE NEED TO VOTE "YES" TO RATIFY THIS NATIONAL CONTRACT!!

Along with Jim Louis, I have traveled from Detroit to Albany, held conference call with the Members in Boston, and will be getting up at 3:30 AM tomorrow to travel to Newark, so I can attend Matt Kronyak's Division 235 Monthly Meeting -- all in an effort to explain WHY we need to say YES, and why we cannot say NO to this opportunity.

The RLBC has achieved a mighty accomplishment in this National Agreement, and our President Don Hahs was one of its leaders. As Chairman of the Eastern General Chairmen's Association, I represented the East at the Negotiations. Attached please find an email from my Western counterpart, Dennis Pierce, who was Chairman of the Western General Chairmen's Association throughout this round of talks. Dennis and I do not agree on every issue, but we are in lockstep with a unified message, and rather than rehash what Dennis has said pretty well, I will ask those of you who have not voted to please read this explanation given by this BNSF General Chairman Pierce.

I have already voted, and I voted YES. Our Membership elects Local Chairmen, based on their wisdom and ability to do the job; these elected Local Chairmen have repeatedly elected me as your General Chairman. Elected union leaders cannot lead to much success unless faithful union Members -- YOU -- follow their lead! Vote YES!

Fraternally,

Tom Roberts, General Chairman
Conrail SAA/CSXT Northern District GCA
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen
A Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters








Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 10:05 PM

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what an endorsement

by anon

a general chairman who was on the wage committee is FOR this nothing agreement.....his members can keep working 6 twelve hour days in 50 year old filthy engine cabs just to keep their head above water.......congratulations hahs, pierce and roberts on your great work.......Vote yes OR ELSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 5:53 AM

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Vote yes OR ELSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by Sounds like a UTU Agreement

LOL

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 8:56 AM

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Oh to be as smart as a just say no man

by Dope, Dope, Dope, Dope

7 unions agree that the contract is the best we will do, their members pay them to study the situation and know when they have done as good as they will. The Teamsters were there with the lawyers and support.

Over 50 men and women on the RLBC bargaining team and they all agreed it was time to settle, but you are smarter than them all. If you are so fucking smart, why arent you the one leading the way with this mystical plan of yours.

Show us oh great one, where is the plan that does better, or didnt your puppetmaster ROCU/UTU give you that piece.

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 10:08 AM

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crystal ball

by anon

as i said utu will seek friends with deep pockets...........read the utu breaking news.....hahs and pierce are so fucking lame..........unless they secretly want to get swallowed by utu........lets hear the lateest fear spin

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 10:19 AM

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Here is some fear spin

by Anonymous

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 10:26 AM

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UTU BREAKING NEWS!!!!

by Paul "Rumplestilskin" Thompson

BLE SHOOTS DOWN UTU MERGER!!!



Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 10:31 AM

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THE PLOT THICKENS

by anon

UTU merging with Sheet Metal Workers, who are part of the RLBC that blet gc and board brag about...i am sure hahs and pierce are way out ahead of things with a great plan to add to our 46 minutes to shift our road train from our belt pack...why don't they just take a job with management and get it over with........

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 10:46 AM

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Re: THE PLOT THICKENS

by anonymous

hey dickhead how much did the scabby utu get to run yard remotes?

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 3:19 PM

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tough guy

by anon

senior utu get attachments,productivity funds,short crew allowances........hahs and pierce think $16 fucking dollars is a great negotiating job on their part.....they are incompetent losers who are in so far over their heads,and you think they are great.....

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 3:38 PM

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Re: tough guy

by anonymous

produdctivity fund and short crew pay will soon be gone,the utu should have left the yard engineers alone,quit your bitching,what goes around comes around

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 3:58 PM

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Re: tough guy

by anom

paybacks are a bitch

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 3:59 PM

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Who the fuck are you and

by What the fuck have you done

Any dumb fuck can say no, a baby learns to say it before learning to say dada or mama. Its the EASY way out for whiners like you who cant get a grip of the fact that you are responsible for you own dumb ass decisions. Say no and blame someone else, hows that working for you dumb ass.

If Hahs and Pierce are so lame, what the fuck does that make your just say no never done anything nare do well ass, got to be somewhere way past the bad side of lame.



Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 5:52 PM

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moron

by anon

it's ne'er do well, you boob....nare is a nostril, you know like the ones you have up hahs and pierce's ass


Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 6:45 PM

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The terror threat to freight railroads "greatest danger" to the country today.

by Anonymous

So do we get any more $$$ for these increased risks? Of course not!

[View Source]
http://www.cfr.org/publication/12800/rail_security_and_the_terrorist_threat.html
Freight Rail
Many of the tracks that carry passenger trains run parallel to those carrying
freight shipments throughout the United States, meaning rail cargoes often
travel along the same heavily populated corridors. Much of the freight presents
little danger to people living near the tracks, but some does—particularly
certain industrial chemicals. The deadliest of these chemicals are almost
identical to those used as weapons on the battlefields of World War I, and in
2005 former White House Deputy Homeland Security Adviser Richard Falkenrath told
the Senate these chemicals pose “the single greatest danger of a potential
terrorist attack in our country today.”
Hazardous chemicals travel on railcars in ninety-ton pressurized tanks. What
little security exists along their route tends to be lax, and at times tanks sit
unmonitored in rail yards for days at a time. Should one of these tanks
rupture—either from a terrorist attack or an accident—the results could be catastrophic. Fred
Millar, a rail security lobbyist and former member of the Washington, D.C. local
Emergency Planning Committee, likens the shipment of chemicals through America’s
biggest cities to “pre-positioning weapons of mass destruction.”
Dr. Jay Boris of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., told the
City Council that the worst-case scenario for that city could result in up to a
hundred thousand fatalities. A video from his laboratory simulates the spread of
a toxic gas cloud over three major U.S. cities. A more conservative 2004
Homeland Security Council report (PDF) estimated that a ruptured chlorine gas
tank in a densely populated area could kill as many as 17,500 people and injure
an additional 10,000. In addition to the dead and wounded, tens of thousands
would have to evacuate, causing widespread panic. Nancy L. Wilson, the
Association of American Railroads’ vice president for security, calls Boris’
projection “pure fearmongering” and suggests the Homeland Security Council model would require perfect
conditions. Wilson, who speaks for the rail industry, says a more plausible
scenario might result in hundreds dead, not thousands.
Securing Rail Freight
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has 415 inspectors who ensure that
rail freight conforms to federal regulations (PDF) for transporting hazardous
materials. Those regulations require rail carriers to implement security plans,
including special training for their employees. Carl Prine, an investigative
reporter for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, says FRA audits since 2003 show many
companies have yet to conform. In researching his own report, Prine gained
unfettered access to rail cars holding toxic chemicals in several U.S. cities.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Transportation
(DOT) offer a list of voluntary security practices for hazmat carriers,
including criminal background checks for employees, regular training drills, and
designating a liaison to government emergency response agencies. Many believe these
measures should be mandatory; Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) described the
federal government’s approach to the issue as merely “window dressing”
(WashPost). The rail industry says it implemented most of these measures before
the government issued its recommendations. “We have the best safety record of
any transportation method in the United States,” Wilson says. “[After 9/11,] we
identified our vulnerabilities and made significant changes to our operations.”
One proposed measure championed by Fred Millar and others calls for rerouting
hazardous rail cargo so it bypasses densely populated areas. In 2005, the
District of Columbia became the first of several cities to enact legislation
banning rail carriers from transporting hazardous chemicals through the city’s
center. That ban has yet to take effect due to an unresolved legal appeal by CSX
Transportation, the primary rail carrier in Washington. Rail companies argue
that rerouting would prove costly, though experts note the cargoes in question account for less
than 1 percent of rail freight. However, major cities often produce or consume
these chemicals, in which case rerouting is not an option.
Though rerouting may be appropriate in some circumstances, Stephen E. Flynn, the
Council on Foreign Relations Jeanne J. Kirkpatrick senior fellow for national
security studies, explains, “When you do start diverting, you are talking about
delays and increased costs. Some of that’s worth it, but what’s important to
remember is that some of these chemicals are very important to our daily lives.”
For example, oil refineries and water treatment plants use dangerous chemicals
to produce the gasoline and drinking water Americans rely on.
Flynn says rail companies need to improve their communication with local
officials in places through which they ship dangerous chemicals. “Fire chiefs
don’t want to show up and have to guess what they’re confronting.” This is among
the voluntary measures recommended by DHS and DOT, but Flynn says the rail industry has resisted because
effectively sharing this information can prove costly. Not so, argues Wilson.
The rail industry provides lists of the top twenty five most dangerous chemicals
that travel through a given community over the course of a year, she says.
Companies could easily provide car-by-car information on a daily basis, but
local officials have no interest because they fear becoming overwhelmed with
information.
Wilson says rail carriers have taken other measures to ensure local officials
have adequate information. “The railroad industry, often working with chemical
companies, trains more than twenty thousand first responders [about chemical
hazards],” she says. The rail industry also has its own intelligence center,
which examines classified government reports for potential threats to railways,
and can quickly communicate with the appropriate rail workers when danger is
imminent.
Inherently Safer Technologies
Experts agree that any solution to rail freight security must address the hazardous chemicals themselves. “In my
thinking,” Crowley says, “freight rail, for all intents and purposes, is an
element of chemical security. You can’t separate the two.” Reducing the need for
some of the most dangerous chemicals reduces the risk of their release, either
by accident or sabotage. Some chemical companies have begun opting for less
hazardous alternative chemicals: At a nominal difference in cost, water
treatment facilities can use liquid bleach in place of chlorine and refineries
can replace hydrofluoric acid with the less lethal sulfuric acid. Inherently
safer technologies (ISTs), as they are called, play a major role in efforts to
secure U.S. chemical facilities as well.
Many companies and municipalities make these changes on their own, but the
federal government has done little to encourage them. “These are not railroad
issues,” Wilson says, “The government needs to step up to the plate.” Crowley
says requiring implementation of ISTs would not work, but “government can use carrots and sticks to force the private sector to adapt.”

Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 11:08 AM

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Repuglicans aren't interested. They want to ship billions in cash to third world hellholes

by where it's easier to steal.

If they were really concerned about "homeland security" they'd have addressed this issue long ago.

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 8:59 AM

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That's right. It's just like the Immigration Problem.

by Anonymous

More security here at home where it makes sense means more hassle and less profit for the Repugs' corporate buddies. It's profit before everything else in Repug World.

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 9:02 AM

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And this Guy is the Repug Leader . . . kinda explains it all. . .

by Anonymous



Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 9:09 AM

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Screw ROCU, those pro-merger crackpots don't negotiate agreements

by Anonymous

Its a coalition agreement, not just a BLET agreement. It's pretty damn good in comparision to most other labor contracts these.

Stop worrying about pre/post '85. Jealousy won't get you anywhere. There won't be any pre-85's left in 3 years. Better starting thinking about your future instead of worry about the past.

When the ROCO cranks get done shitting in one hand while they wish on the other hand, which of the two will they have the most of?

Screw the UTU too. They could have been partner in the coalition negotiations as well.

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 7:39 PM

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We trust charactors like Haas to negotiate for us.

by anonymous

Whether he is piss poor at his job or taking bribes really don't much matter. We lose! BLET so far has just been "UTU lite". And say wasn't Haas for the UTU merger?

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 9:58 PM

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Where is my contract?

by utu member in good standing

fuck what the engineers are doing, where is my contact?

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 7:55 PM

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Re: Where is my contract?

by anonymous

dont worry utu member in good standing,the utu is paying frank wilner 180 thousand a year to make shure the railroad company will look out for your best interest

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 8:04 PM

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Why was utu & rocu not at the bargaining table?

by utu member in good standing

Dinner was being served but all the guests were not present, how come?

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 9:06 PM

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What are a bunch of ex engineers doing negotiating contracts in this day and age?

by Anonymous

The corporations send lawyers to negotiations and why don't we? Haahs and Pierce are qualified to move rail freight not go head to head with the toughest legal sharks in the business.

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 9:17 AM

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Hey Brennan, Its 3 years to the next Election

by And they didnt want you last time

It really doesnt matter if you like pierce or haas, this is the best agreement in decades. Apparently you do not care about what is good for engineers, you just care about the fact that you dont like pierce or haas.

Why dont you answer the question, which are you, UTU or ROCU?

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 9:20 AM

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i'm blet

by anon

you are typical of the HAHS not haas and pierce flunkies. illiterate and scared,but always making sure it works out for YOU. what is in the pierce deal that has you so excited? hybrids...utility....road remote....pierce and hahs are the biggest pussies in the history of the blet and the rank and file will soon realize it......

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 9:35 AM

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Re: i'm blet

by anonymous

sounds like you are a pre 85 utu who is pissed cause the blet got road remotes. guess yoy will have to go to engineers school or walmart

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 11:58 AM

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Re: Hey Brennan, Its 3 years to the next Election

by anonymous

ROCU IS UTU !!!!!

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 11:56 AM

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3 years

by anon

if hahs and pierce get their wish, the ble won't be here in 3 years

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 7:57 AM

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This why you are losing members daily

by Anonymous

This is 2007, not 2001. When the utu catching up to the present day then you might keep some members

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 10:28 AM

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hogheads

by anon

ur right brother.......the days of these scared,inarticulate hogheads acting like big shots are long past...it is why we never share in any of loot....look at the insider transactions for senior officers and board members of the class 1's....they are taking turns grabbing millions each month and hahs and pierce are bragging about 46 minutes to runt the train from our belt alone and H&W match increases.......they must feel so secure from the wrath of the rank and file.....they are embarassing and ineffective and probably corrupt.........choo choo

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 9:47 AM

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Put up or

by Shut up

This is like last year all over again. You fuckers hate Hahs so bad that you would fuck every member in the BLET just to fuck him. Here is the same question you Hahs haters couldnt answer when Hahs got re elected last year and NONE of your men got elected. Remember that NONE, NOBODY bought your bullshit then and nobody buys it now except you listening to yourself.

If you are so fucking smart, fill us in on how you are going to do better than the contract out for a vote. Cut the rest of the crap and pony up Batman. The only suggestion your man Brennan made last year was to kidnap the CEO's kids from their school yards to get a better contract. Are you fuckers in the Irish Republican Army or what. You expect the members to become felons when you cant even get over 1/3 of them to even vote in your goofy rank and file election scams. But then none of this is news to you, your plan isnt to give the members control, its to give your group control.

Pierce told the truth, there is no place to get better, but then you dont care if the members do better. Your only interest is to play politics with lies and bullshit and that you are an ace at.

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 10:04 AM

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Re: hogheads

by anonymous

WELL DIPSHIT PLEASE EXPLAIN TO EVERYONE JUST HOW MUCH THE SCABBY utu GOT TO RUN THE YARD REMOTES ? GUESS YOU ARE ONE OF THE PRE 85S THAT WILL HAVE TO GO TO ENGINEERS SCHOOL OR WALMART.GOOD LUCK STUPID

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 1:09 PM

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Are you referring to Paulie Thompson and the utu mafia?

by They are ex-engineers

?

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 7:53 PM

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UTU AND ROCU

by anonymous

DUMB AND DUMBER !!!!!!!!!!

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 5:22 PM

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Really?

by Say What?

There won't be any pre-85'ers left in three years? Oh, really. Maybe not in your neck of the woods but your neck of the woods ain't everywhere, there's some places that are still going to have quite a few pre-85'ers left after another three years has gone by. They won't be pension age yet, either.

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 11:27 PM

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Re: Really?

by anonymous

IN ANOTHER THREE ALL THE PRE 85S WILL HAVE GONE TO ENGINEERS SKULE OR WALMART,ITS THEIR CHOICE

Posted on Jun 12, 2007, 6:10 PM

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The ROCU site

by anonymous

BLET and UTU officers can't say enough bad about these guys. They must be doing something right.
http://www.rocutoday.com/page.php?46

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 12:29 PM

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Guess

by Again

You dumb fucks try to say that the BNSF/BLET agreement has something to do with single craft, but where the fuck where you when BLET started the aborted abortion on NS for A cards. Many warned then that UTU might push single craft if they viewed the a cards to be a war cry, but hell ya, BLET forged ahead on a looser of an idea that gave UTU a reason to push single craft. And it was UP that got the single craft push again.

Those that said go on the a cards even said then that UTU would do what UTU is going to do, we can no longer make our decisions based on that piece of the equation so it was ok then to take that risk. They were even quoted as saying we either love UTU or kill UTU once and for all.

You same "just say no" people now want us to forget that when you say that the BNSF agreement might give UTU a reason to push single craft. As before, UTU will do what UTU is going to do. At least in this case, BLET has actually gotten off of its lazy ass and obtained a scope rule for engineers that is worth fighting for.

But then that's been left out too, why let the truth affect a good political smear campaign. You fuckers are pathetic, you would let every last member get fucked just to fuck an officer willing to do something. I suppose the fact that hahs and pierce can get deals done that are good for the members is what really pisses you off, its obvious that you cant or we would have seen it by now.


Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 12:55 PM

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hahs and pierce

by anon

did hahs and pierce support utu merger agreement? ask yourself the hard question? and then reconsider everything you think you know

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 1:19 PM

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Get back on track

by Just say no man

What the fuck does the failed BLET UTU merger have to do with today's situation. The membership had the right to say yes or no on the BLET-utu merger, the majority said no so here we are with no plans to merge with UTU. Hell, they are looking at the sheet metal goombas, so why make shit up about a utu BLET merger now.

Funny part is, you just say no to the contract pukes are in bed with ROCU who can seem to get enough of the idea that BLET and UTU should merge. They think that BLET should just roll over and take every last fucking that UTU dishes out. Get out of the past and into real time instead of playing politics on every issue, you dont get it both ways.

There are agreements to be voted, the BNSF scope rule is part of a plan to actually put bullets in BLET's gun the next time technology threatens jobs. That isnt to merge with UTU, it is to defend ourselves when UTU goes after engineers jobs again, dont think they wont.

Apparently you prefer that BLET does like it did at Vernon, go into a gun fight with a fucking knife, and you wonder why we lost. We lost because we had no scope rule, its about time we get one but somebody would have to say YES to whats in their own best interest for that to happen. UTU and UP are the ones with the most to gain if BLET says no to the current proposals, good thing you get to post anonymously. Who's best interest are you working for?


Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 1:29 PM

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spit out the koolaid

by anon

think for a minute.if hahs and pierce are admitted PRO utu merger people, how can you blindly follow anything they propose...........peel back a few layers and try to imagine how this will play out as we force utu to accept offers of money and friendship and fight us for their survival......can you imagine our tired,dimwitted leaders saying "this fight will destroy us all" "we need to come together"........right where they had us with the 2001 utu merger agreement which they favored.....ask the hard questions of all blet leaders who favored utu merger agreement


Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 1:50 PM

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When are you going to ask the same

by Questions of ROCU

Some of the biggest Hahs haters are members of ROCU, go to their website they are listed. Big Hahs hating Brennan people like Hugh Sawyer belong to a group that says UTU and BLET should merge. That issue does not define anyone.

Why dont you get over the past and look at today. More than likely, you are ROCU and UTU, not even in the BLET.

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 5:35 PM

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majority

by anon

some of the "biggest hahs haters" are a huge majority of blet members.........hahs has a lower approval rating that george dumbya bush......could never survive a rank and file vote, which is why he worked so hard to avoid it........he is lame and embarassing and pierce is his protege......u keep citing the insignificant rocu, yet fail to come to grips with the fact that 70% of blet members voted not to utu merger and hahs and pierce have never gotten over it......

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 6:12 PM

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Nothing but

by sour grapes

Who never got over the idea of merging with UTU? You are the only bringing it up, better see a shrink if you think anyone else is hung up on the idea of merging with UTU, this one is all you and your bullshit lies trying to change the current topic called the contract is pretty easy to see through.

Truth is Pierce is taking it right to the UTU over on BNSF, BLET took it UTU on CSX as well, what the fuck are you doing that is so much better. At least CSX and BNSF will have some weapons to fight UTU with, that doesnt look like any merger plan to me.

And by the way, you also need to get over the fact that your boy Brennan lost last year, Hahs was re elected easily. Have the shrink help you get a grip on that one too.

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 6:31 PM

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You seem might worried about Pierce

by You that worried he is doing a good job

Pierce is only one of the four Generals on BNSF that hit a home run for the members there, but you single him out. Does that fact that he knows what he is doing worry make you nervous.

Either you are working for UTU or you are working for a nervous member of the BLET advisory board, but either way, you my friend are no friend to the BLET.

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 7:05 PM

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hahs and pierce

by anon

you still don't get it.........hooking up with utu is all hahs and pierce care about......why do you think we got to a merged constitution that 70% of members rejected...do you think it came out of thin air........it was the baby of advisory board members who still believe in it..........do you really think this board and many of these gc could defend the paltry wage increases and worsening conditions all locomotive engineers face during these times of unprecedented earnings and executive compensation.. if faced with one man one vote these inept blet leaders would be swept aside wholesale and you know it.......and more importantly they know it, and will do anything including selling out to rail management i.e. 46 minutes to run road train from your pants....and more to the point they would facilitate us being pushed together with utu in a heartbeat to create a softer path for themselves in a new organization........who brought us the merged constitution? answer that once and for all..........

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 7:32 PM

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Must be good dope

by You been a smokin

All you do is bitch, how about you tell the world how you smart fucks would do better. NO PLAN, JUST BITCHIN

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 10:07 PM

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The plan is to replace our incompetent (or corrupt) leadership with competent people.

by Anonymous

The evidence is there despite the smoke and mirrors. The UTU leadership is the absolute worst but our guys have yet to bring home the bacon.

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 4:25 AM

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VOTE NO

by anon

tell pierce and hahs to get to work and stop the same lame fear mongering......hiding under the skirt of the RLA and blaming the big bad utu and congress and the corporations........grow some brains and some balls and learn from the teamsters how to utilize what we do have to fight with...........reading pierce's same old fear filled ramblings about how there is nothing he and hahs can do is sickening.......

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 5:52 AM

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VOTE YES

by Anonymous

When will you give us your plan superman, pierce told the truth. You put him down but you dont offer any better plan. PUT UP OR SHUT UP.

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 9:22 AM

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Vote Yes

by Hoghead

Any one who thinks this isn't a good contract is living in a fantasy world.It's easy to sit on your fat ass and tell yourself how important you are, when in reality the carriers hold all the cards. We either accept this contract or we will see it again with the utus name attatched to it.

This agreement only protects our half of the two man crew issue its up to the utu and thier members to protect the other side of the cab.

Read the Vernon award and see what the utu thinks of protecting engineers jobs.

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 12:53 PM

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Nobody with any sense comes here to learn about the BLET contract.

by Anonymous

If you think you are swaying anyones opinion on the BLET Contract, you are just as retarded as 80% of the Repugs and Rejects from organized labor who post here.

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 9:47 AM

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waaaaaaaaaaa

by anon

ur here numbnuts

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 9:54 AM

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IBT

by anon

what was the IBT involvement in this great hahs/pierce contract.....you know the organization with all the resources and experience with sucessful contracts.........let;s see hahs and pierce two broken down hogheads trying to play in the big leagues and getting us fucked every time........

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 10:00 AM

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Tell us about yourself

by Anonymous

If Hahs and Pierce are broken down hogheads, just who the fuck are you. UP and UTU both want the BNSF scope rule to go down in flames. They need the national to fail to do that. Which side do you work for, UP, UTU. Doenst look like the BLET members are even a thought in your plan.

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 10:06 AM

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hitting a nerve

by anon

i'm just a dues paying member working everyday for peanuts.........not a semi-literate boob who thinks he's a capable big shot, but in reality is always the dumbest guy in the negotiations, like your heros hahs and pierce......now who are you? lapdog

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 10:15 AM

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Did you ever hit a nerve! So why wasn't the Teamster legal team involved?

by Sick of getting swindled.

Even if they do mean well (and this is giving Haahs the benefit of the doubt-they might be as rotten as UTU) they still hit that table heavily outgunned. And how do the "defenders of the faith" justify no colas, 46 minutes for ENGR only, rising health care (the railroad causes most of our health problems so why should we pay?) continuation of the 90 hour week, the terror threat to all railroaders etc etc and etc? The railroads are making money hand over fist and we are still being bled white. I vote No.

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 10:43 AM

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hahs and pierce etal...are afraid of teamsters

by anon

and well they should be...they wouldn't make a pimple on a real union mans ass.and they know it...they have turnedthe ble into nothing more than a company union......the teamsters must have to hold their nose to even be around these pussies......the class 1's were ripe for the picking and our boys get us 46 minutes..........fucking morons

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 11:02 AM

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Dont let the truth get in the way of

by YOUR BULLSHIT

If you know so much, why do you leave out that BLET was part of the Rail Labor Bargaining Coalitin. RLBC, 7 UNIONS led by the TEAMSTERS with TEAMSTER LAWYERS and TEAMSTERS HEALTH INSURANCE EXPERTS at the table with the group.

Who are you really insulting now, Hahs, the TEAMSTERS that helped, BMWED, BRS or the shop craft unions? Do you hate everyone that disagees with you? The bargaining teams of 7 unions agreed that this was the best all would get in the round. Now you know more than all of them and their legal teams?

As the man said, PONY UP with the PLAN to do better or SHUT THE FUCK UP.

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 11:30 AM

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the best

by anon

"the best we can get in this round"..ur such a fucking idiot.how many rounds you been around for..ur an apologist for a leadership who thinks we are overpaid and doing just great. i can tell by your posts that if you ever ran a train it wasn't very often and probably a long time ago. so lumping us in with boilermakers and trackmen is A oKAY WITH YOU..IT'S A RACE TO THE BOTTOM WITH YOU FUCKING PUSSIES, WHICH IS AS I HAVE SAID ALL ALONG INTO THE ARMS OF YOUR SECRET PARTNERS THE UTU,,,,,,,,,,,,,,DID HAHS AND PIERCE SUPPORT A MERGER WITH UTU IN 2001?????? ANSWER THE FUCKING QUESTION .....YOU KNOW THIS CURRENT LEADERSHIP SUPPORTED A MERGER WITH UTU........HOW CAN THEY BE TRUSTED IN ANYTHING THEY SAY OR DO

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 12:44 PM

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Vernon award

by Hoghead

Hahs and Pierce supported a merger for one reason, RCO the utu had a gun to our heads and pulled the trigger at the arbitration hearings.

The utu worked hand in hand with the carriers to sell out the yard engineers. Our voting against the merger only gave them an excuse to stab use in the back.

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 12:59 PM

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"We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable."

by Bush hoists one at G8.



Looks like The Enquirer was right [snicker]. Oh, and the UK’s New Statesman. Hope Bush doesn’t come down with a bad case of the sniffles, too. Then he might have to stay in his room for days.

NOTE Via Ataturk. who collects all the photographs into a rather revealing sequence. Mix ’em, match ’em, share ’em with your friends!


http://rising-hegemon.blogspot.com/2007/06/huh.html

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 11:01 AM

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Gasps As Bush Refers To Pope By Wrong Title

by Bush in holy gaffe

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_2127232,00.html

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 8:45 AM

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HEAD OF STATE

by Anonymous



http://thenewshole.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/06/08/218445.aspx

Posted on Jun 10, 2007, 8:53 AM

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Find the speedtraps near you

by Tagged and wiser

In some municipalities speedtraps are a form of taxation so watch out.
http://www.speedtrap.org/index.html

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 8:31 AM

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Repug Tort Reform Bork sues for 1 million dollars

by ANOTHER Repug Hypocrite

This story epitomizes the modern conservative movement. They are filled with Frank Luntz talking points, but when it comes down to actual life experiences…well….I give you Judge Robert Bork:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/06/08/tort-reform-bork-sues-for-1-million-dollars/

He can sue, but you can’t. Scooter can lie and obstruct justice, but you can’t. Here’s a clip of the very creepy Judge Bork on H&C back in May of 2005:



Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 12:12 AM

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Jesse Jackson was at Wal-mart last week

by Anonymous

He was there to protest the fact that all the washing
machines were white.
The store manager asked, "What's the problem here, Reverend?"
Jesse pointed at the machines and loudly bemoaned the fact that
all of them were white.
The manager replied, "Well, Reverend, it's true that
all the washing machines are white, but if you'll open
the lids, you'll see that all the agitators are black!!!

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 5:35 PM

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Paris Hilton is white

by Anonymous

eom

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 6:12 PM

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And most people think she is an agitator

by Anonymous

HAR!HAR! HAR!

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 6:38 PM

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No Shit?

by Anonymous

..

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 11:32 PM

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I shit you not!

by Anonymous

eom

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 11:59 AM

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Hey you Illegal Invader lovers, check out what these vermon are costing the USA

by Anonymous

http://immigrationcounters.com/

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 5:27 PM

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Hey you Repug lovers, check out what these vermin are costing the USA

by Anonymous

in illegal wars, tax cuts for the rich, imbalance of trade policies, outsourcing of jobs, no bid contracts, destruction of the environment . . . it just goes on and on and on.

Borrow and spend Con-servatives are ruining the country.

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 12:07 AM

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And of course Left wing liberal democrats will save us all

by BLA HAHAHHAHHAHHAHHAHA!!!!

God you are fucking stewped!

Posted on Jun 11, 2007, 12:01 PM

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Are you a Republican or Democrat?

by Frankie Four Eyes

Are you a democrat, republican or a southern republican?

Here is a little test that will help you decide.
The answer can be found by posing the following question:

You're walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small
children. Suddenly an Islamic terrorist with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you, screams obscenities, praises Allah, raises the knife and charges at you. You are carrying a Glock cal. 40 and you’re an expert shot. You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family. What do you do?

Democrats answer:

-Well, that’s not enough information to answer the question!
-Does the man look poor! Or oppressed?
-Have I ever done anything to him that would inspire him to attack?
-Could we run away?
-What does my wife think?
-What about the kids?
-Could I swing the gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand?
-What does the law say about the situation?
-Does the Glock have an appropriate safety built into it?
-Why am I carrying a loaded gun anyway, and what kind of message does this send to society and to my children?
-Is it possible he would be happy just killing me?
-Does he actually want to kill me, or would he be content just to wound me? If I were to grab his knees and hold on, could my family get away while he was stabbing me?
-Should I call 9-1-1?
-Why is this street so deserted?
We need to raise taxes, have a “paint and weed day” and make this a happier, healthier street that would discourage such behavior.
-This is all so confusing! I need to debate this with some friends for a few days and try to come to a consensus.



Republican answer: BANG!


Southern republican answer:

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Click.(sound of reloading). BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Click
Daughter: "Nice grouping daddy! Were those the Winchester Silver Tips or hollow points"?
Son: Get-R-Done Pop! Can I do the next one!
Wife: We ain't taking that to the Taxidermist!

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 3:02 PM

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The Islamic terrorist thing seems like of foolish

by Jefferson Davis

Practically speaking those southerners couldn't handle northern republican's like US Grant or W. T. Sherman. Don't worry about Allah, be careful who you mess with otherwise. Hillary Clinton is going to spank your sorry asses soon enough.

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 3:20 PM

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Hilary spank our asses?

by Land o Cotton

Don't think so. That weird stuff don't play in Mayberry.


Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 7:02 AM

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Wow, she's hot! Ann Coulter is a has been!!

by Anonymous

eom

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 8:33 AM

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Nasty Nazi ladies don't cut it in Mayberry neither.

by Land o Cotton

Ann is just plain crazy.


Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 8:58 AM

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Is Coulter into prescription drugs?

by Blue State

Or is she just insane?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nveiuLxc9Eo&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIsvMSEYiK4&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_YzbODb9To&mode=related&search=



Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 9:45 AM

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Ann advocates the murder of journalists and internment of "liberals"

by anonymous

Rhetoric has become reality before.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200604200006
Coulter claimed to be "anti-murder" and "anti-false accusation"
In her April 18 nationally syndicated column, right-wing pundit Ann Coulter claimed, "I have always been unabashedly anti-murder, anti-rape and anti-false accusation." Coulter's past statements, however, tell a different story.

Anti-murder?

"In this recurring nightmare of a presidency, we have a national debate about whether he [Bill Clinton] 'did it,' even though all sentient people know he did. Otherwise there would be debates only about whether to impeach or assassinate." [Coulter's book High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton (Regnery, 1998)]
"I think the government should be spying on all Arabs, engaging in torture as a televised spectator sport, dropping daisy cutters wantonly throughout the Middle East and sending liberals to Guantanamo." [Coulter's December 21, 2005, column ("daisy cutter" is a nickname for the 15,000-pound BLU-82 bomb -- the largest conventional bomb in existence)]
"Would that it were so! ... That the American military were targeting journalists." [February 7, 2005, edition of CNBC's Kudlow & Cramer]
"I'm getting a little fed up with hearing about, oh, civilian casualties. I think we ought to nuke North Korea right now just to give the rest of the world a warning." [Quoted in a January 10, 2005, article in the New York Observer]
"My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building." [Quoted in an August 26, 2002, article in the New York Observer]
"We should invade their [Muslims'] countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity." [September 13, 2002, column]
Anti-false accusation?

Much of Coulter's career as a writer and TV pundit is marked by false accusations. For example:

She falsely accused University of Chicago professor Steven D. Levitt and Stanford University professor John J. Donohue III of "defending Roe v. Wade."
She falsely accused the Arizona Daily Star of anti-conservative bias for its decision to drop her syndicated column.
She accused Time magazine of liberal bias for its decision to feature an "elongated funhouse photo" of her on the cover of its April 25, 2005, edition.
She falsely accused The New York Times of "gratuitously out[ing]" gay children of prominent conservatives.
She called a white New York Times media critic an "Uncle Tom."
—S.S.M.

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 9:55 PM

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Wheelchair case hitches ride on front of Mack Truck

by newz

Don't try this on a train guy!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6732003.stm

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 2:48 PM

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Straight from the horses mouth..How a man in the new craft of T&E employee feels..

by Anonymous

Tex Mex employee sets the record straight

March 26, 2000

Mr. Charles Little, President
United Transportation Union
14600 Detroit Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44107

Dear Mr. Little:

The issue on the Tex Mex Railway is all about dues money and
keeping your salary, isn't it, Charlie? In 26 years, we never got this
much one-on-one attention from the UTU until the BLE showed up
and now, here are UTU's Web site, VPs, special reps, hired hands,
pillow talk, and a Judas to make it look like it's about representation.

Brother David Snow is a conductor who believes he's never going to
become an engineer. Conductors who signed his March 22 letter also
deny they will ever be forced into engine service. Charlie, have you
and the cadre showed them or told them to read the 1985 National
Agreement?

Brother Snow and his fellow conductors who disapprove of entering
engine service will have a rude awakening. In your 1985 National
Agreement, it clearly states that they will be forced into engine
service or forfeit their seniority. In plain English, doesn't this mean
they will be terminated?

In the 26 years that UTU has "represented" Tex Mex
brothers/sisters, these jobs have been lost forever: rear brakeman,
swingman, head brakeman, third man in yard. In just the past two
years, Tex Mex has eliminated all yard jobs and the overtime
associated with them thanks to your wonderful road switcher
agreements. UTU vice presidents and general chairmen misled the
men into believing they were the greatest things on this property.
They know the truth now. The craft of engineer, the craft of
conductor, and the craft of brakeman all have been abolished, thanks
to you and an official of the Tex Mex. In your carrier-backed
submission to the National Mediation Board, these three historical
crafts were sideswiped and some 100 brothers turned into "Train
and Engine Service Employees" overnight.

Instead of protecting our jobs, UTU has given them away. UTU has
gutted the crafts on the Tex Mex. UTU has brought in no new jobs.
When the UTU was caught and sanctioned by the AFL-CIO, you
disaffiliated. UTU lost the representation election on the Union
Pacific. UTU is a rogue union. Yet here you come bellowing that you
are the savior of all rail labor and that there is no distinction between
engineers and conductors. On Feb. 29, the National Mediation Board
ruled that there IS a difference on the UP... but on March 1, and
thanks to you, the NMB ruled that on the Tex Mex Railway,
everyone is a "Train and Engine Service Employee."

I am grieved to read March 24th on the UTU Web site that my
certified letter of January 6, 2000, to you has been termed a fake by
Brother Snow. I alone write and took the letter to his house where
he sat and read the original, we talked, and he signed an approval
page that brothers before and after him signed. My January letter to
you was approved by 59 members in expressing our opposition to
becoming "Train and Engine Service Employees" and our concern
about one labor union attempting to destroy another labor union.
Now it is March 26 and brothers are turned against brothers. Since
it's all about dues money, don't you remember me? I've paid 39 years
of BRT and UTU dues. Are you buying elections with the war chest
money?

Sincerely,

J.J. Vara
Train and Engine Service Employee
(ex-engineer, thanks to you)
314 James Court
Laredo, Texas 78045

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 12:03 PM

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Do you just suppose that UTU has been working for the other side all these years?

by anonymous

It could sure look that way with about 100% losses.

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 2:51 PM

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Lets include all of the pieces

by Not just the ones that suit your politics

You dumb fucks try to say that the BNSF/BLET agreement has something to do with single craft, but where the fuck where you when BLET started the aborted abortion on NS for A cards. Many warned then that UTU might push single craft if they viewed the a cards to be a war cry, but hell ya, BLET forged ahead on a looser of an idea that gave UTU a reason to push single craft. And it was UP that got the single craft push again.

Those that said go on the a cards even said then that UTU would do what UTU is going to do, we can no longer make our decisions based on that piece of the equation so it was ok then to take that risk. They were even quoted as saying we either love UTU or kill UTU once and for all.

You same "just say no" people now want us to forget that when you say that the BNSF agreement might give UTU a reason to push single craft. As before, UTU will do what UTU is going to do. At least in this case, BLET has actually gotten off of its lazy ass and obtained a scope rule for engineers that is worth fighting for.

But then that's been left out too, why let the truth affect a good political smear campaign. You fuckers are pathetic, you would let every last member get fucked just to fuck an officer willing to do something. I suppose the fact that hahs and pierce can get deals done that are good for the members is what really pisses you off, its obvious that you cant or we would have seen it by now.

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 12:53 PM

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blet sellout

by anon

now that bnsf gc pierce has started the UTU takeover of the blet, which has always been his and dipshit don hahs dream, how will he explain to the hardworking, heavy dues paying BLET members when UTU takes his new scope rule and petitions for a new single craft election, which they will win easily? he has obliterated the craft distinction that allowed us to survive the last single craft election....what has he been promised, how corrupt or stupid are hahs and pierce?......

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 9:10 AM

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Re: blet sellout

by Anonymous

I seem to remember Byron Boyd saying that UTU would easily win the representation election on the CP. Don't forget, BLET is part of the IBT. Win or lose they won't lay down and the cost of a nationwide representation election will bankrupt an already financially weak UTU.

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 9:27 AM

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read up on this

by anon

it's not nationwide,,it's whatever proprty they feel strongest on at the time,,,and utu has friends with deep pockets........ask your leaders gc and national if they voted for the 2001 utu merger.......decide ifthey are being truthfil, but remember they put together a merger constitution and were devastated when we voted it down...they are STILL your leaders


Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 6:47 AM

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"utu has friends with deep pockets"

by Robert Allen

yes they do

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 2:04 PM

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UTU distortions

by Anonymous

Appears to me that Dennis Pierce has drawn clear distinction in crafts with the engineer scope rule. After all, that is why you have a scope rule - to clearly define craft duties from other crafts. Further, the BNSF BLET GC's got it written into the contract that BNSF will in no way support a UTU attempt to combine crafts in front of the NMB.

Maybe some should actually read the contract instead of crying because you were told by Paul Thompson the BLET is taking your conductor jobs. The BLET has just contractually secured their position and duties with the two man crew operation. If the UTU has done the same with their crew consist agreements, then UTU members have nothing to worry about as the BLET has just guaranteed that the conductor will not have to work alone on road trains because now their will always be an engineer on them.

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 11:06 AM

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why have 2 crafts?

by clear thinking new guy

Do pilots do all the work while the airline tries to scrounge up makework tasks to keep the co-pilot awake? Do truckers and bus drivers take someone along to look at the traffic signals and maybe even write them down so they don't fall asleep?

What is the matter with you old heads? Can't you see the handwriting on the wall? Why don't you come up with something innovative instead of perpetuating job classifications that went out with the steam era? The new generation doesn't care, they just want to work and make a decent living.

You guys aren't done milking the system? Looking forward to some new blood taking over. If the rest of the world was like you the post office unions would still be arguing about how to saddle a horse.

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 11:31 AM

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Re: blet sellout

by You dont get it do you

Single craft is akin to the notion that the flight attendant is the pilot, makes sense if you are shooting herion but fairly obvious otherwise. Either way all this UTU whining is pretty much the flailings of a drowning union.

BLET and BNSF did nothing but clarify the craft lines, and the NMB is owned by BNSF in this case. You really think NMB will go single craft when BNSF tells them not to.

Consider this, UTU says that even if they win the push for single craft, no current craft agreements or work rules will change, read their posters on that one, its all part of the bs they were spreading to convince their own members that the abortion known as changing craft lines at the NMB was somehow good for them. Even on the outside chance that UTU bullshits the world into thinking that engineers and conductors do the same thing and should be in one craft, and on the outside chance that a union as fucked up as UTU could win that election, if FranknPaul are correct, then BLET's new agreement would still apply to engineers after UTU takes over.

Here is kick, UTU's job would be easy then, to follow years of UTU form, they would have to sell the conductor out because the engineers will have a stronger agreement. But at least the single craft push would give them someone new to own after the sell the people they have.

How do you say fucked up?

1. The Canadian experiment
2. The national bargaining round
3. Felon officers
4. Internal fighting

Its a good thing that UTU has BLET to use as a distraction, implosion is the best description of UTU.

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 11:48 AM

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how dumb are the "new guys"

by anon

don't any of you understand that dipshit don hahs is a strong proponent of merging with the utu.....the rank and file stopped him by an 80% rejection of the merger agreement.......pierce is a hahs flunkie trying to get the two unions together through the back door by forcing utu to petition nmb for a singlr craft vote and citing the pierce scope rule as the reason.........these fights are extremely costly and blet leadership would prefer merging AGAINST the will of their members........blet "new guys" who think they have it all figued out better start getting caught up on the history of this battle........the 7000 bnsf engineers better make sure pierce has thought this all the way through.....or is he so beholden to bnsf management he doesn't care about the blet surviving.....as far as the ibt intervening,,,that's a joke,,,,blet is scared to death of involving them, they might have to start acting like real union men.........

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 12:13 PM

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You reason like a Retard

by Anonymous

NMB isnt going to rule for a T&E employee on a class one. The crafts are not blurred. One craft is unlicensed, a mere dolt could do it, and sleeps all the way down the road while the Engineer who is Federally Certified, & Qualified does all the work moving the train to its destination.
The Stew dont fly the airplane, never did, never will......unless he/she goes to school and gets qualified as a Pilot....Bit then he/she would be a pilot, not a Stew.


Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 4:21 PM

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dopey

by anon

many conductors are certified,qualified,engineman...in time, all will be.....when pierce hangs the engine on his members belt on road assignments, they will be indistinguishable from the rcos......blet leaders are looking for a way to merge with utu...this is obvious to anyone who knows the history....get into the history of the issue a little and get off the dopey pilot/stew rhetoric...make pierce and hahs explain why the secretly want to join with utu...

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 4:44 PM

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Why would the BLET want to join with the tinhorn tinsnipping UTU?

by Come on man. do a little thinking

Those stews have more to do with making the plane move than your local sheetmetal bender has with making trains move.

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 4:54 PM

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Re: Why would the BLET want to join with the tinhorn tinsnipping UTU?

by Anonymous

why would the blet want to merge with the utu? they get all their frustrated members (post 85) anyway. and when they become engineers, its only logical to leave the utu as the ss utu is sinking anyway.

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 8:45 PM

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ask dipshits don and dennis why

by anon

did you forget 2001 already.their hearts have not changed on the merger issue.only their tactics, because they know the rank and file is opposed....but we are stupid and don't know what is right.....they will destroy the engineer craft in their greedy determination to merge with utu for only their benefit....new titles, fatter parachutes etc...

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 6:54 AM

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Article 10 of the BLET contract on the BNSF

by Anonymous

Article 10 – Craft or Class
Unless the parties to this Agreement mutually agree otherwise, BNSF will not submit or support any changes to current “craft or class” designations of operating employees before the National Mediation Board, or in a proceeding before any other forum, and will remain neutral on any such changes


Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 7:53 PM

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thick heads

by anon

big deal...the bnsf will remain neutral.....utu is the one petitioning and the one with superior numbers..........as to why would blet want to hookup with utu...u have to ask dipshit hahs and flunkie pierce.........ask pierce if he voted for the utu merger agreement.....the one hahs and others in cleveland were devastated by, when the real engineers voted it down......

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 6:25 AM

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Charlie, Is that you again

by You cant seem to leave Pierce alone

Here's a kicker for you Charlie, "The right to MAKE and interpret contracts, rules, rates of payand working conditions for operating crafts shall be vested in the regularly constituted GCA of the BLET"

How many agreements you been making Charlie, ZIPPO, NADDA, ZERO aint ever gonna HAPPEN, thats how many. Pretty easy to pot shot pierce for making agreements, wouldnt want anyone to think that was your fucking job over on the Useles Pathetic because you couldnt get an agreement good or bad to save your own ass.

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 4:39 PM

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blet merger with utu

by anon

did pierce vote yes for the utu merger agreement............don't let hil lie to you.........make him explain his real beliefs.....

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 6:26 AM

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did pierce vote yes?

by blet strong

UTU, BLE reach merger accord.(United Transportation Union; Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers)(Brief Article)
From: Railway Age | Date: 8/1/2001

After nearly four years of on-again, off-again merger talks peppered by a fair amount of hostility, the two largest rail unions representing train and engine service employees--the United Transportation Union (UTU) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE)--have reached agreement on a merger. The merger, which is subject to ratification by the rank and file, would take effect Jan. 1, 2002.

The merged union would be named the United Transportation Union-Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (UTU-BLE), and the logos of both would be retained. If approved, UTU-BLE would have approximately 185,000 members, and would be the bargaining representative for all unionized rail operating employees in the U.S. and Canada, yard-masters, Canadian rail traffic controllers, and thousands of other railroad, bus, air, and mass transit workers in both countries.

Stressing that individual craft autonomy would be retained in the merged union, UTU International President Byron A. Boyd, Jr., and BLE International President Edward Dubroski said in a joint statement, "It's time for the members of both unions to decide on the question of merger," which would produce substantial financial savings.



Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 6:39 AM

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hahs cried when merger died

by one man one vote

BLE rejects merger

UTU merger defeated by 70% majority; UTU threatens war

By a vote of 17,251 to 7,425, members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers rejected a proposed merger with the United Transportation Union.

"The members have spoken and I accept their decision," said BLE International President Don M. Hahs. "They have made it clear that this is not the right time and these are not the right conditions for a merger with the UTU.

"However, the BLE is prepared to continue working to improve working conditions for all operating crafts."

The ballots were counted by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) on December 10 in Southfield, Mich.

Of those BLE members who cast ballots in the referendum, an overwhelming 69.9% voted against a merger.

In spite of these numbers, UTU President Byron Boyd publicly announced his intentions to seek a "shotgun wedding" of BLE and UTU by forcing a series of representation elections.

"We now will pursue... winner-take-all representation elections on each of the major railroads, beginning with the Kansas City Southern," Boyd said in a prepared statement on the UTU website.

The on-again, off-again merger of the nation's two largest rail operating unions began on April 9, 1998, when - at the request of AFL-CIO President John Sweeney - the BLE and UTU began good faith discussions to resolve the matters dividing the two organizations. These original merger discussions broke off on May 8, 1999, when the BLE Advisory Board, the Brotherhood's top governing body, voted to end the unification bid due to questions regarding the UTU's financial situation.

After a two-year hiatus, however, members of the BLE Advisory Board voted to renew unification talks with the UTU on June 11, 2001.

The 24,676 votes represents 65% of active BLE membership. President Hahs credits the high-level of voter turnout to the importance of the vote and the hard work of the BLE's Department of Internal Organizing, Mobilizing and Strategic Planning.

"I commend the efforts of General Secretary-Treasurer Bill Walpert, whose department spearheaded the get out the vote drive, and all Special Representatives and National Mobilization Team members who spent countless hours making sure BLE members made their voices heard in this all-important vote," he said.


© 2001 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers


Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 6:41 AM

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were you around when hahs and pierce worked to merge with utu?

by anon

utu still has superior numbers and our leaders are closet utu merger people....

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 6:50 AM

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Re: were you around when hahs and pierce worked to merge with utu?

by Anonymous

Yeah, I was also around for the representation elections on the CP & Tex-Mex where UTU also had a significant membership advantage.

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 8:04 AM

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impressive

by anon

tex mex 60 to 49 vote........as far as cp...everyone knows canada is adrain on our organization.........do you think hahs and pierce voted yes on the utu merger agreement?

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 8:51 AM

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Hey dumbfuck

by The convention was last year

Life apparently isnt fucked up enough without you goombas who didnt get your way at the last BLET convention starting new bullshit to try and confuse the issues. Thats your trademark, never a real plan or better idea, just pot shot anyone who actually has the balls to make a fucking decision. Just make shit up to try and bullshit the members into seeing demons that are NOT there. Real tragedy is that you fucks claim to be speaking for members, all you are doing is using them as pets to be lead to the slaughter if need be to suit your own twisted political fancy.



Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 10:58 AM

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such a tough guy

by anon

goombahs?......are u ever right about anything..............i am guessing you voted YES along with dipshit Don Hahs and Duped Dennis Pierce....you get so touchy like a scared little bitch.you must be a blet leader......tell the truth and ask hahs and pierce and all other leaders "WHO SUPPORTED THE UTU MERGER"....everything else will come clear to you then

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 1:15 PM

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Get back on track

by just say no man

What the fuck does the failed BLET UTU merger have to do with today's situation. The membership had the right to say yes or no on the BLET-utu merger, the majority said no so here we are with no plans to merge with UTU. Hell, they are looking at the sheet metal goombas, so why make shit up about a utu BLET merger now.

Funny part is, you just say no to the contract pukes are in bed with ROCU who can seem to get enough of the idea that BLET and UTU should merge. They think that BLET should just roll over and take every last fucking that UTU dishes out. Get out of the past and into real time instead of playing politics on every issue, you dont get it both ways.

There are agreements to be voted, the BNSF scope rule is part of a plan to actually put bullets in BLET's gun the next time technology threatens jobs. That isnt to merge with UTU, it is to defend ourselves when UTU goes after engineers jobs again, dont think they wont.

Apparently you prefer that BLET does like it did at Vernon, go into a gun fight with a fucking knife, and you wonder why we lost. We lost because we had no scope rule, its about time we get one but somebody would have to say YES to whats in their own best interest for that to happen. UTU and UP are the ones with the most to gain if BLET says no to the current proposals, good thing you get to post anonymously. Who's best interest are you working for?

Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 1:27 PM

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spit out the koolaid

by anon

think for a minute.if hahs and pierce are admitted PRO utu merger people, how can you blindly follow anything they propose...........peel back a few layers and try to imagine how this will play out as we force utu to accept offers of money and friendship and fight us for their survival......can you imagine our tired,dimwitted leaders saying "this fight will destroy us all" "we need to come together"........right where they had us with the 2001 utu merger agreement which they favored.....ask the hard questions of all blet leaders who favored utu merger agreement



Posted on Jun 9, 2007, 1:51 PM

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Billionaire Branson Debuts Train Fueled By Vegetable Oil

by Damn! I want to see a Nucular Train.

All aboard Branson's bio train

Europe's first vegetable-fueled train begins service as part of billionaire's bid to fight global warming.

LONDON, June 7 (Reuters) -- Billionaire Richard Branson's commitment to combat global warming got on track Thursday as Europe's first scheduled passenger train fueled by vegetable oil left London for North Wales.

Branson's Virgin Trains is running one of its trains on a 20 percent biodiesel blend for a six-month trial, and the British entrepreneur said his whole fleet might eventually be converted to run on biofuels.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/06/07/news/newsmakers/branson.reut/index.htm?postversion=2007060710

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 8:37 AM

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Who is the Boss?

by George Orwell

Help Prevent Millions of Workers From Being Stripped of Their Rights

Do you get paid like the boss?

Can you hire or fire people like the boss?

If you're fired, do you get a golden parachute -- like the boss?

Of course not. So should your company be able to prevent you from joining a union just by declaring that you're the boss?

It seems like a simple question to answer. But recent decisions by the National Labor Relations Board have made it possible for millions of American workers and union members who don't hire, fire, or evaluate anybody to be classified as "supervisors" -- making them ineligible for union membership!

Only Congress can fix this absurd situation -- and they won't act unless they hear from you:

Take Action: Tell your members of Congress to co-sponsor the RESPECT Act
Under U.S. labor law, a distinction is drawn between "employees" and "supervisors." "Employees" have a guaranteed right to join together in unions; "supervisors", since they are part of management, do not.

But what if every worker could be classified as a "supervisor" -- even if they don't hire, fire, evaluate or oversee anybody?

Recent decisions by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) have made this a potential reality for millions of workers. Imagine, for example, a nurse who serves as a "shift supervisor" once a week. She has no authority to hire or fire, and the other nurses on the shift don't report to her. But according to the NLRB, she's a supervisor. And that means that she can no longer belong to her union.

If this bizarre logic stands, millions of workers could lose their eligibility for union membership and the protections a union contract provides for employees. Congress can fix the situation, though, by passing a new bill called the RESPECT Act, which would close this loophole and ensure that those workers still have their rights.

As a constituent, your voice carries weight with your members of Congress. Please take a moment and tell your members of Congress to support working men and women by co-sponsoring the RESPECT Act. You'll be standing up for the rights of millions.

Take Action: Tell your members of Congress to co-sponsor the RESPECT Act
Join us in urging Congress to support the RESPECT Act and prevent millions of workers from being stripped of their rights!




Send a letter to the following decision maker(s):
Your Congressperson
Your Senators

Below is the sample letter:

Subject: Please Co-Sponsor the Respect Act

Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],

One of the fundamental rights of American working people is the right to join together in unions. This right has helped millions of workers over the last century achieve the American Dream for themselves and their families.

Today, however, corporations are trying to strip away this right from millions of working people by classifying them as "supervisors" -- despite the fact that they don't hire, fire, evaluate or promote the workers they supposedly supervise!

Calling someone a "supervisor" just because they occasionally lead a team of peers at work so broadens the definition of the word as to render it meaningless. Corporations shouldn't be able to deny a worker's rights just by gaming the system.

You can help stop this practice by co-sponsoring the RESPECT Act (H.R. 1644/S. 969) -- legislation that would clarify the meaning of the term "supervisor" to ensure that abuses like this are no longer possible.

By supporting this important bill, you will be preserving the rights of millions of Americans. Please stand with us in this cause and become a co-sponsor of the RESPECT Act today.

Sincerely,

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 12:08 AM

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TAXES

by Railroad Tax payer

Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he's fed.

Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.

Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.

Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he tries to think.

Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries, then
Tax his tears.

Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass

Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won't be done
Till he has no dough.

When he screams and hollers,
Then tax him more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.

Then tax his coffin ,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid.

Put these words upon his tomb,
"Taxes drove me to my doom".
When he's gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.

LOOK HERE:
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Poll Tax (even exotic dancers pay)
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Roa d Usage Tax
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Tip Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Water craft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
(This is just a partial listing!)


Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago,
and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.

We had absolutely no national debt,
had the largest middle class in the world,
and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened?

Can you spell "Politicians!"
Both Democrats and Republicans!!


REMEMBER THIS:

A GOVERNMENT BIG ENOUGH TO GIVE YOU EVERYTHING YOU NEED - -

IS BIG ENOUGH TO TAKE AWAY EVERYTHING YOU HAVE !


Posted on Jun 7, 2007, 1:34 PM

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spoiled little crybaby

by taxes are lower in mexico

why don't you move there?

Posted on Jun 7, 2007, 2:33 PM

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Re: TAXES

by anonymous

and im shure your blaming it all on the democrars

Posted on Jun 7, 2007, 4:12 PM

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Re: TAXES

by Anonymous

I am S-U-R-E
I am not blaming just the dems
I blame all parties!

Shure? You must be in audio as in Shure microphones

Posted on Jun 7, 2007, 7:19 PM

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Repug Geniuses have found the Solution . . . Borrow and Spend!!!

by Never have to pay taxes again

You'll be dead before your children and grandchildren have to pay the piper. Repugs rock!!!


Keep buying the shit Repugs are shoveling to you. And be sure to send your kids off to die in the Middle East.

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 8:35 AM

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Don't care, what about Paris Hilton?

by Anonymous

whats up?

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 12:59 PM

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"SPRING TIME FOR HI-- LTON"

by He he he ho ho ho ha ha ha!

Back in da Pokey!!

Big Birtha's new bitch!

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 5:29 PM

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WHA! WHA! Paris wants her mommy!!!!

by Anonymous

She's gona get spanked
Big time!

Posted on Jun 8, 2007, 5:31 PM

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For once I agree with Al Sharpton

by Anonymous

SHARPTON BLASTS JUSTICE SYSTEM
Thu Jun 07 2007 11:45:47 ET

Reverend Al Sharpton, President of National Action Network, and one of the country's foremost leaders for civil rights, is blasting the justice system for what appears to be favoritism in the early release of Paris Hilton.

"Though I have nothing but empathy for Ms. Hilton whom I have met and appeared with on Saturday Night Live the night I hosted in 2003, this early release gives all of the appearances of economic and racial favoritism that is constantly cited by poor people and people of color. There are any number of cases of people who handle being incarcerated badly and even have health conditions that are not released.

I have served several sentences for civil rights and civil disobedience actions and I even fasted which caused health concerns to prison authorities who paid for a doctor to come see me daily rather than release me. This act smacks of the double standards that many of us raise

Developing...

But I'd still do her if it would help her therapy

Posted on Jun 7, 2007, 1:06 PM

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Favoritisim yes, racism no

by Anonymous

Lots of famous white people have stayed the full term in jail

Paris should have paid a hefty fine
Lost her drivers licence for a few years
Had her car impounded
And be under house arrest for 1 year

Posted on Jun 7, 2007, 1:43 PM

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