A triage tent?

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Sheriff's deputies (click here) say there has been a shooting in a shopping mall near Portland, Ore.

One witness at the Clackamas Town Center told television station KATU at least two people were shot, and he saw sheets put over them.

Another witness told the station she saw people screaming and parents grabbing their children as they fled the mall.

That witness said the gunman had a rifle and was wearing a camouflage outfit and a mask.

Another witness said ambulances were arriving at the scene.

Entrances to the mall have been blocked off.

No further details were immediately available from the Clackamas County sheriff's office.

There are more effected by the shooter than the dead. Why are there so many guns on the street in the USA? Obviously, the strategy that if everyone were armed there would be no more assaults against innocent people. There is no research to back up that idea. It is a populous idea spawned by fear of each other.

Can we please do something about the guns and gun capacity in the USA? Please. Why do we continue to allow people to be victims? This has nothing to do with Second Amendment Rights.

Our police are not safe. Assault weapons have wiped out four officers having coffee together in a dinner before they started work. Why does this continue? If Police Officers are not safe, how can citizens be safe?

I am tired of the EXCUSE of 'Lone Wolf.' If that is the problem then there are a lot of them.

Right to Work is a solution looking for a problem. It is a strategy against the citizen.

It is a political strategy that robs The Right to Assemble it's final result. Solidarity. The purpose of Right to Assemble is to bring people together in an effort to protect citizens from harm of any kind; economic, freedom of speech, etc.

Right to Assemble is no different than any other aspect of the USA Constitution and Bill of Rights; they are not just words on a page.

The picture above is not a union demonstration, it is a demonstration to prevent the former Bush administration from changing the management policies of The Mall in DC that would prevent the Right to Assemble. Seriously.

The National Mall is a national park and Bush assaulted the Right to Assemble on the National Mall through management of a national park. It never ceases to amaze me how much the Middle Class is hated by some political leaders. I mean it takes real hate to even attempt to redefine the management of The National Mall.

But, that is besides the point. The Right to Assemble is suppose to have a result. I don't know why people would assemble at all if there wasn't an 'end product' to be achieved.

Those that defend Right to Work policies surrender to outsourcing and admit they have no ideas to protect American workers. In doing so they assault unions to prevent their strategy from being defeated. 

Right to Work does cause dissolution of unions. Unions thrive on Right to Assemble. They assemble their memberships to achieve solidarity. It is solidarity that is guaranteed by The Right to Assemble freedom of the USA. By dissolving unions the Right to Assemble literally dissolves with them. If unions thrive on Right to Assemble it means their ability to protect workers is important enough to ask for a portion of their dues from non-union members in the same work place that receive those benefits. It is a matter of fairness, but, also brings non-members to the appreciate the unions efforts.

If non-union members don't want to pay a partial amount of union dues then they shouldn't receive the benefits. It is the union members that only should receive the benefits. That reality will bring about a lot of problems in the work place. It is far better that co-workers are on the same 'status' when doing the same work. Why bother with laws like Lilly Ledbetter if there isn't same pay for same work. But, Right to Work removes that aspect of the work place. It literally places worker against worker to bring about an adverse outcome for both of them.

Right to Assemble is not simply a right to stand around talking. It is about COMING TOGETHER for a benefit for the group. 

Right to Assemble = Solidarity 

Right to Assemble was important enough to have it protected by the USA Constitution.

No Justice of any court should be looking at Right to Assemble as something that can happen even though Right to Work exists in the work place. Those two ideas are in opposition of each other and not compatible. Right to Assemble is far more protected in the work place in the form of a union than any Right to Work law. Right to Work removes the importance of equality laws. Right to Work is not a democratic initiative. It assaults our USA Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

This isn't one of those Bain Capital things, is it?

...The existing Abandoned Plan Program (click here) provides streamlined termination and distribution procedures for abandoned individual account plans, including 401(k) plans, under which benefits may be distributed in a manner that can substantially reduce fees charged to participants' accounts for, among other things, annual reporting, legal compliance and other administrative services, including termination costs. By making this streamlined process available to Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustees, the time and resources required to "wind up" a bankrupt company's retirement plan can be significantly reduced. As a result, plan participants likely will see fewer administrative and termination fees charged to their accounts and should have access to their money sooner.

"The rule we're proposing today is designed to help workers and retirees of bankrupt companies gain access to their retirement money sooner. Far too often, the retired workers of these companies are unable to obtain their hard-earned retirement savings in a timely way. The legal status of a former employer should not impede retirees' access to their own funds, especially at the very time they need them most," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employee Benefits Security Phyllis C. Borzi. "The proposed rule would extend the department's current Abandoned Plan Program to these retirement plans, and enable Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustees to more quickly and efficiently distribute retirement benefits to participants. The rule also would reduce the possibility of participants' accounts being eroded by excessive and unnecessary fees."...

Ya know, I think it is. Can't help but wonder how many companies Bain Capital bankrupted and dumped all those people on the good 'ole USA Department of Labor.

Vulture Capitalists will do it every time.

July 26, 2011

...A key part of EBSA's job is establishing policies (click here) that safeguard the money that workers and employers set aside for workers' retirement. There are about 48,000 private-sector defined benefit plans that hold approximately $2.6 trillion in assets.⁽¹⁾ In addition, there are nearly 670,000 private-sector 401(k) and other defined contribution account plans that hold about $3.9 trillion in assets.⁽²⁾ Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) hold an additional $4.7 trillion.⁽³⁾ In fact, nearly 50 million households own some type of IRA. That number represents more than 40 percent of the households in the United States.⁽⁴⁾ Americans' retirement security depends in large measure on the sound investment of this money. While some investment decisions are made by large professional money managers, today most are made by individual workers who must manage their own 401(k) accounts and IRAs. To guide their decisions, workers often rely on advice from trusted experts....

See what the American people would have given up if President Obama wasn't elected. There was a lot on the line wasn't there? Does everyone understand what would have happened after Romney took office? It would have been completely devastating to the Middle Class.

Infrastructure Projects are important to the cities.

I am sure everyone likes to enjoy the beaches, both ocean and lakes. I am sure mayors find tourism important to their economies. So, the mayors  and their citizens need to let their Congressional Representatives to stop making cuts to infrastructure projects.

Nearshore water quality threatened (click here)

DEC 11 2012 

KARI LYDERSEN

Duluth was deluged with record rainfall last June – more than seven inches in two days — that caused  massive flooding and sent cascades of debris, contaminants, sediment and raw sewage into Lake Superior.

The flow of sewage into the lake would have been worse if it weren’t for three decades of expensive and labor-intensiveefforts to repair and overhaul the sewer systems of Duluth and neighboring Superior, Wis.

Now such crucial sewer system improvements across the Great Lakes are at risk because of the federal budget crisis. It’s happening right when climate change is expected to mean more of such heavy rains.

In older cities and towns across the Great Lakes, untreated sewage is regularly released into rivers and lakes when pipes that handle both sewage and storm water are overwhelmed by rain. Duluth reduced such combined sewer overflows – known as CSOs – by 91 percent  by separating sanitary and storm sewer pipes and building catchment basins....

The NLRB is busy making appointments

National Labor Relations Board Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce and Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon have announced the appointment of John Cotter as Officer in Charge of the Agency's newly-designated Subregional office in Hartford, Connecticut (Subregion 34).

National Labor Relations Board Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce and Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon have announced the appointment of Jane North as Officer in Charge of the Agency's newly-designated Subregional office in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (Subregion 11).

National Labor Relations Board Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce and Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon have announced the appointment of Naomi L. Stuart as Officer in Charge of the Agency's newly-designated Subregional office in Overland Park, Kansas (Subregion 17).

I WONDER IF THERE ARE ANY OPENINGS FOR MICHIGAN !

I sincerely believe the Right to Work Laws plaguing this nation are unconstitutional because it attacks
"Right to Assemble" and casts people out of fear and desperation into poverty.

Rick Snyder is attacking the Middle Class with the Right to Work bill.

The idea of outsourcing American jobs is a fear tactic. It is not the new reality. Corporations need to realize they are losing their product base by placing citizens, their employees, in poverty.

...The legislature and the governor’s support (click here) for right-to-work legislation is premised on two notions: (1) right-to-work is a freedom of choice issue and (2) right-to-work promotes economic growth and job creation. Let’s consider each of these arguments.
Unions come into being when a majority of the workers vote in favor of union representation. Unions are the outcome of a democratic - one worker one vote - system. Workers who are unhappy with the union can organize a decertification election if they so choose. If this sounds familiar, elections with the ability to recall unpopular representatives, it should. That’s how our democratic system works....

JOB DESPERATION is what Snyder is peddling. It is THE PLAGUE the nation faces and why the poverty levels are increasing. If a citizen is willing to 'work at any price' they will never have upward movement. Snyder is returning to the past when GM was sending jobs to Mexico. That is over. It is very, very over.

Snyder has no ideas, he only has ideology and CREATING 'job desperation' is his answer to his cronies. It is corruption by a desperate lightning rod seeking to rule democracy with emergency mangers. Snyder is punishing the public for their vote against his power. I sincerely believe that. His statements about the Right to Work law is rhetorical, but, again that is all the GOP has.

I can't believe I have to state this over and over.

The less income to the Middle Class the more the economy contracts. It is a fact, the expanding USA economy is proof. The Middle Class is empowered under President Obama and it shows. An impossible USA economy which has a history of well over a decade is finally moving in a positive direction.

You would think the Republicans, whom claim they are 'business experts,' would understand 'cash flow.' Their rhetoric is not about cash flow through the USA economy it is about pandering to their cronies whom fund their elections and pad their pockets.

Currently, an empowered Middle Class through unions are contributing to the distribution of MONEY through the economy. When more money are in the hands of more people the spending in an economy increases. This is not that difficult to understand. Why do people like Snyder actually think they have something to offer to the American economy other than wealth hording and poverty? 

Job Desperation is caused by wealthy hording by a smaller and smaller number of people. It is a strategy against the majority of citizens in the USA. It is a strategy to defeat the Middle Class. Snyder has no answers and neither does any Republican relying on rhetoric to maintain their offices and power. Power brokering is over in the USA. Those hooked on adrenalin of power brokering need to get out of the way. The people want to solve the nation's problems not cause more and wealth hording is not a solution it IS the problem.