caucus99percent

free-range politics, organic community

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Tuesday January 25, 1916
From the Chicago Day Book: Report on an Interview with Mother Jones

Mother Jones was recently in the city of Chicago and was interviewed by a reporter on various topics. Monday's Day Book gave the following account of what Mother had to say:

"MOTHER" JONES CALLS FOR HAPPY HOMES
IN AMERICA
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There will be no strike in the soft coal fields if the present demand for soft coal keeps up, Mother Jones told a Day Book reporter Sunday. She says operators are expected to give in to the demands of the unions this spring. "Mother" left Chicago Sunday for Indianapolis, where last week she brought the two warring factions of United Mine Workers of America together.

[She says:]

The outlook is not so promising in anthracite fields...Operators are not expected to give in to demands of miners. Strike is likely.

Thousands of tons of coal have been stored away by railroads. Some industries have contracted for delivery for months in advance, fearing an industrial struggle.

Mother Jones is hopeful in general. She sees better wages and better working conditions for American workingman. She thinks the "little revolt" in Youngstown taught money kings a lesson. She expects more voluntary increases like 10 per cent raise in steel industry.

Puerto Rico has already defaulted twice, but this next default is going to shake the muni bond market.

When I posted about the report of the UK parliament's Committee on Women and Equality from the parliamentary inquiry into discrimination against transgender people in education, health and criminal justice ten days ago, backlash had yet to coalesce. It stood to reason there would be some, but it was not known for certain from whence it would come.

Maria Miller, chair of the committee, probably expected attacks from right-wingers in her Conservative party. But Miller says they have remained largely silent.

[T]he former Culture secretary said she was taken aback by the “extraordinary” hostility from a minority of women “purporting to be feminists.”

See, Hillary Clinton's presidential bid is all about a woman's right not only to be President, but to be untrustworthy as well.

If throughout all these years you've been voting for male politicians who couldn't be trusted, what right do you have to say "no" to a woman who demands the same courtesy as all of the men who've been getting a free pass?

And who the hell gave you the right to be an informed voter, anyway?

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Wednesday January 24, 1906
From the Reading Times: Mother Jones Speaks to Large Gathering on Socialism

A large crowd gathered in Reading, Pennsylvania, Monday evening to hear Mother Jones speak. Tuesday's Reading Times reported the event:

LABORS' STRUGGLE FOR AN EXISTENCE
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THEME OF EARNEST APPEAL MADE BY "MOTHER" JONES,
BEFORE LARGE AUDIENCE IN THE COURT HOUSE.
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The main room of the Court House was scarce large enough to accommodate the crowd of citizens who gathered there last evening to hear "Mother" Jones expound her theories of socialism. The meeting was held under the auspices of Local Reading, of the Socialist party, and, although the meeting was announced for 8 o'clock, half an hour before that time men and women began to gather and before the hour of opening, every seat in the auditorium was taken and as many were standing as could crowd into the aisles. The space within the bar was also filled with men and women.

As the clock struck the hour of 8, T. J. Netheary, who presided during the session, called the gathering to order and briefly stated the purpose of the meeting. He felt highly honored by so large and intelligent an audience having gathered to hear live issues discussed. The meeting, he said, was being held under the auspices of Socialists, who had met to give vent to the opinions held by millions of people today. Socialism is the same the world over, and represents the only philosophy which, if put into practice, will bring relief to down-trodden mankind. To attain liberty and freedom is the goal of all well thinking people. The only difference is in the method to reach this end. The Socialist is not a pessimist, but verily believes the dawn is coming and is striving heartily to hasten that day.

What has three governments and is a failed state? That's right, Libya.
The latest Libyan government is based in a hotel in Tunisia because Libya was deemed too unsafe.
The other two existing parliaments in Tripoli and Tobruk have so far refused to recognize the U.N. creation in Tunis.

It's just a fact that Saudi Arabia is the largest state sponsor of what our Republican compatriots call 'radical Islamic terrorism' (I looked that up just to make sure I got it exactly right). Not for nothing 15 of the 19 9/11 terrorists were Saudi and it's been Saudi state policy to spread Wahhabism, one of the most militant types of fundamentalist Islam, for about a century, often subverting more secular regimes to do so.

The Neolib Establishment is hemorrhaging both notional wealth and political power. These twin developments are not unrelated, but I think for the moment I'll skip my Modern Monetarist economic critique for the sake of clarity and conciseness.

If you've been following the economic analysis of the Trans Pacific Partnership (as opposed to the political, ecological, intellectual property, and human rights analyses which are uniformly more horrible than even the strongest detractors were warning) you'll have noticed that even the World Trade Organization, a fanatically pro-trade group as you might imagine from the name, is predicting negligible job gains or Gross Domestic Product growth in the participant countries except for the most

The International Olympic Committee is expected to adopt new guidelines concerning the participation of transgender athletes before this years summer Olympics in Rio. The new guidelines have grown out of an under-the-radar meeting this past November called Consensus Meeting on Sex Reassignment and Hyperandrogenism.

The new guidelines will completely eliminate restrictions for trans men. Triathlete Chris Mosier's participation in the World Duathlon Championships, for which he has qualified as part of the American team, had been in doubt. The International Triathlon Union will decide Mosier's fate by which set of standards it adopts.