Post Punk Kitchen Forum

well, fork.

eta: what difference would/could a general strike make now? genuine question.

What kind of shiitake is that?

Running joke on twitter: Maybe #wigop gave up democracy for Lent? #wiunion

I think the question is why not strike? What can it hurt for the workers to make their voices heard?

Yeah, once you've lost collective bargaining, you pretty much have shiitake all left. It's back to the 1890s, so it's time for some of that militancy too.

Solidarnosc didn't happen in three weeks.

Scott Walker doing a press conference now. People are out this morning. Reports say some students have walked out. Rallies this weekend.

I read there is a nation-wide rally planned for April 4, which is great, but I wish there was something more I could do besides watch and fume.

I'm just trying to post as much as I can so people are informed. It kills me that charliefuckingsheen is getting so much attention but labor rights are not.

Rally in Indiana today as well.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011 ... apolis.php

Thanks, p-cookie. Your posts have definitely motivated me to read more and inform myself about the situation than I might have otherwise.

If you'd like to send monetary support toward the effort to recall the Republican state Senators that are up for recall: http://www.actblue.com/page/wiscrecall
They've raised over $200,000 since last night!

I'm probably going to be canvassing for this, as I'm a big fan of canvassing and have done so in every election since 2004, though I feel a bit disingenuous because my state Senator (go Lena Taylor!) is a Dem and thus I'd be asking citizens for signatures in districts where I'm not a constituent. Also, I hate being screamed at. But them's the democracy breaks, I suppose!

Is there a reliable individual or news agency Tweeting live from WI? Twitter is the easiest thing for me to keep up with at work and the hashtag gets cluttered with people using it as a joke.

Wisconsin State Senator Chris Larson is @ChrisJLarson. WisPolitics.com Budget Blog is @WIBudget. Here are a bunch more social media links from Madison: http://www.channel3000.com/news/27016996/detail.html

Peter Barca is bringin' it!

http://www.channel3000.com/localvideo/index.html?v=live

ETA I hate Republicans I hate them I hate them I hate them I forking hate them so much I hate them. To call them weasels is an insult to the genus Mustela.

Another link that is streaming well if you're having problems with channel3000's.
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/app ... nteractive

Perfect, thanks!

I second what people have said above as far as how y'all can help. Keep involved with any local rallies, donate to the recall if you are able, write letters to the editor of your local papers, and encourage anyone you know who lives in the recall districts here in WI to sign recall petitions and get involved with local recall efforts. Some unions are arranging buses to Madison, so you can call your local offices and check.

I am still here in Western Wisconsin, going on three weeks now. Not sure how much longer I'll be here.. most of the canvassing in my area is going to be done by WI natives but I wouldn't be surprised if they sent us back out for the recall elections.

where the fork is obama? why isnt he as outraged as i am? i know he cant do anything, but i hoped he would at least have something to say about it.

@news3david is a local reporter on the scene.
@andrewkroll is from mother jones and is tweeting. I don't know if he is still live from Madison, though.

Just passed in the Assembly, 53-42. Now it's en route to Walker for his signature, and then the shiitake's REALLY gonna hit the fan. Not that the national "liberal" media is even going to glance in our general direction. I give up.

For me this has also been an education in how damn important it is to vote. I struggle with it because the candidates don't often reflect my views, but for me, this has shown how important it is to be out to try to keep people like this out of office. The gap between the lesser of two evils has widened a good bit. And I think it also shows how important it is to be informed. This isn't just Wisconsin, but also Indiana, Idaho, Illinois, Ohio. If you think it won't affect you, think again. All those charts they kept reporting on with disparity of wealth affect us all. In NYC teachers and transit workers lose a bit every time new contracts come up. If they keep taking away our rights we won't have much left soon.

I am hoping that this is just the beginning. It is time for people to stand up and protest and get damn well upset. Labor strikes in this country don't solve themselves in a few weeks. They take months and years.

Or to quote Jezanna: "Chain store workers of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your low paying jobs!"

Panda for president!

I don't think anyone ever expected this to happen. So many states were turned topsy turvy during the last election (MD was one of the few states that kept its liberal governor). Poor economy was a prime factor for even those that did vote. The end result was the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Why should tax cuts happen if people aren't paid properly or programs being funded properly? Screw tax cuts. And I say this as someone who pays a lot of taxes.

iowa too, being debated right now in the house. fortunately (?) democrats still hold a 1-vote majority in the senate so hopefully it will never get to governor mustache.

After Walker's hilariously depressing turn as County Executive, Milwaukee -- or at least progressives in Milwaukee -- definitely knew this was going to happen, which is why we all busted our asparagi trying to prevent this sack of shiitake from being elected Governor. He might not have openly campaigned on a union-busting platform, but if you read or heard about the things Walker said and did as County Exec, it was abundantly clear that this was on the agenda.

Democratic GOTV volunteers and canvassers were up against willful ignorance and the glorification of anti-intellectualism (thanks, Tea Party!) in addition to having to fight against our own side: there was so much goddamned voter apathy. Democrats sitting on the sidelines are what lost this election. Period. We had a solid candidate for Governor and an EXCELLENT incumbent Senator and no one could be bothered. I walked dozens of miles and knocked on hundreds of doors only to have people who answered shrug and say they were tired or simply didn't care about who was elected -- some of these people lived a block and a half from their polling location! It was so, so frustrating to canvass for over 12 hours on Election Day going up against those attitudes. So this! This is where that apathy got us. It continues to blows my mind that our citizens only got wound up about Walker having been elected after he started attacking collective bargaining rights -- where were all these protesters during the election cycle? I wish they and their energy would have been working with me to help get Barrett and Feingold elected!
Watching this debacle play out in the place I've lived my entire life is beyond heartbreaking. I can't even muster up the energy to be disgusted by the fact that every other hideous insult in that piece of shiitake budget bill would have been given an instant green light by my elected officials if there hadn't been union-busting involved. It's too much.