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14446 [lbo-talk] Social Movements -- rank: 1000

info at pulpculture.org wrote: >Didn't Doug post something not too long ago re: abortion indicating >that college age students are growing conservative in their >attitudes toward abortion? Don't remember that, but in general, everyone's getting more conservative on abortion. The peak of abortion tolerance was around 1996 - it's moved towards a more pro-life posish since. But...Americans seem constantly to want to split the difference on abortion - ok in some circumsances. Never on deman ...

Document Size:	5147
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sat Mar 4 09:44:23 PST 2006

14447 [lbo-talk] a teacher in trouble and the union -- rank: 1000

Michael Hoover wrote: >my own experience tells me that 'lefty' anti-union attitudes are often held >by folks who have little actual experience - warts and all - with unions >themselves... I don't have much, aside from the dismal National Writers Union, but Fitch has plenty. First joined one at age 15 (Laborers, in Chicago). Worked for Musicians Local 802 as an organizer, and CWA Local 1180 as a policy guy. He's spent lots of time studying the inner working of DC 37 in New York, too. And ...

Document Size:	5351
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sat Mar 4 08:38:57 PST 2006

14448 [lbo-talk] Bartels on Frank, etc. -- rank: 1000

Seth Ackerman wrote: >To say that middle-income whites don't respond to populism means >that Dems have already tried a populist strategy directed at >middle-income whites. But where and when have they done it? The polling data says (or say, if I want to be a pedant) that econ populism doens't appeal to that demographic. It's always possible that a vigorous campaign could change the environment, but why do left candidates do so poorly in Dem primaries, in which voters are quite to the le ...

Document Size:	5125
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sat Mar 4 08:35:45 PST 2006

14449 [lbo-talk] Michael Yates: Right-Wing Attack Dogs Go after a Colorado High School Teacher -- rank: 1000

John Lacny wrote: >In the course of Doug's sniping negativity on this issue I'm rarely disappointed by American unions' ability to earn all the sniping negativity I can dish out. Doug

Document Size:	5171
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sat Mar 4 08:22:47 PST 2006

14450 [lbo-talk] a teacher in trouble, reply to Nathan -- rank: 1000

Michael Hirsch wrote: >One last point. Doug was being ironic in citing a Fitch "law." It >was a trope. Don't take it at face value. It's a polemical reduction, of course, but it's pretty broadly applicable, don't you think? Which is pretty good for a theory. Fitch told me years ago that a UAW organizer explained their failure to organize the auto parts industry by saying that the wages weren't high enough to fund a healthy dues flow. That stupidity has come around to bite the uni ...

Document Size:	5195
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sat Mar 4 08:12:06 PST 2006

14451 [lbo-talk] a teacher in trouble, reply to Nathan -- rank: 1000

Nathan Newman wrote: >Yes, principled behavior is good, but folks act as >if all acts have no costs and that media-worthy cases are so much more >valuable than other work that is being done. "Yes, principled behavior is good, but..." is so beautiful a phrase that it should stand on its own. Nathan, this is business unionism at its most debased. How can a teachers union not stand up for the free-speech rights of teachers? But as I recall you were ready to throw Lynne Stewart to ...

Document Size:	5256
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sat Mar 4 08:09:52 PST 2006

14452 [lbo-talk] Bartels on Frank, etc. -- rank: 1000

Yoshie Furuhashi wrote: >The question for supporters of the Democratic Party is this: why do >middle-income white workers vote Republican rather than Democratic? >Which is to blame: middle-income white workers or the Democratic >Party? Are middle-income white workers voting against their >economic interests (since, as Larry M. Bartels shows, the higher >their income, the more likely questions such as abortion and >religion matter to them) or has the Democratic Party's econo ...

Document Size:	5834
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Mar 3 15:58:35 PST 2006

14453 [lbo-talk] a teacher in trouble and the union -- rank: 1000

MICHAEL YATES wrote: >But it amazed me that the union would dismiss this by saying Bennish >is not a member. So what? One of Fitch's laws of American unionism: they don't care about the workers, they care about dues. He doesn't pay dues. Fuck him. Doug

Document Size:	4866
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Mar 3 15:55:41 PST 2006

14454 [lbo-talk] FBI raids NYC central labor council -- rank: 1000

Jim Devine wrote: >On the City Council and as labor czar, Ludlow left a trail of broken hopes Speaking of which... New York Times - March 3, 2006 F.B.I., in Bid-Rigging Inquiry, Raids Offices of Labor Leader By STEVEN GREENHOUSE and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM The F.B.I. raided the offices of the New York City Central Labor Council at dawn yesterday, carting out boxes of papers as part of an investigation of Brian M. McLaughlin, the council's president, law enforcement officials said. The officials s ...

Document Size:	11054
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Mar 3 15:29:46 PST 2006

14455 [lbo-talk] Social Movements -- rank: 1000

Leigh Meyers wrote: >Point by point: > >What makes it a 'random' observation? You see a leftist or two driving an SUV. That makes me wonder: how do you know they're leftists? If so, what kind are they? And, most importantly, how representative are they? Finding one or two people who do something doesn't tell you much about group behavior. The meaningful way to talk about this is to compare the subpopulation "leftists" with some kind of broad average. Most people I know would r ...

Document Size:	5164
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Mar 3 15:22:52 PST 2006

14456 [lbo-talk] Social Movements -- rank: 1000

Leigh Meyers wrote: >The response I receive whenever I mention how incongruous >it is for 'lefties' to be driving S.U.Vs more than validates that >belief. Yeah, politics is all about random observations of personal behavior. How accurate and/or meaningful do you think your statement really is? Doug

Document Size:	4747
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Mar 3 14:32:03 PST 2006

14457 [lbo-talk] Bartels on Frank, etc. -- rank: 1000

Wojtek Sokolowski wrote: >Speaking more broadly, attempts to predict voting behavior from broadly >defined socio-demographic characteristics of individuals seem overly >deterministic to my taste. I'm not sure if this is meant as a critique of Bartels. But that is certainly not what he is up to; he was testing the claims of What's The Matter With Kansas using self-reported voting data. Doug

Document Size:	4903
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Mar 3 12:31:33 PST 2006

14458 [lbo-talk] Hillary for President -- rank: 1000

Yoshie Furuhashi wrote: >Jim posted: > >>http://www.michaelhodges.com/missing.html > >I bet that there won't be as big a stampede among leftists to vote >for Hillary as there was for Kerry. She conjures in the minds of >leftist men a teacher they hated in elementary school. I liked my elementary school teachers, except for the 6th grade one, who, it was later revealed by her death as I entered 7th grade, was harboring a brain tumor. Hillary is dreadful. If I ever make an ...

Document Size:	5153
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Mar 3 12:15:17 PST 2006

14459 [lbo-talk] 1 in 3 New Orleansians lost everything -- rank: 1000

[tables and graphics omitted] Gallup Poll - February 28, 2006 One in Three New Orleans Residents Lost Everything Following Hurricane Blacks affected more severely than whites by Jeffrey M. Jones GALLUP NEWS SERVICE PRINCETON, NJ -- A new CNN/USA Today/Gallup survey of current New Orleans residents reveal that Hurricane Katrina had a profound impact on their personal financial situations. Roughly 6 in 10 residents say they suffered major financial losses, including one in three who report losing ...

Document Size:	10315
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Mar 3 12:06:17 PST 2006

14460 [lbo-talk] Social Movements -- rank: 1000

Wojtek Sokolowski wrote: >Cmde Cox opined: > >> Like Wojtek, politicians and capitalists are scared shitless >> by public action. I began to catch on, actually, about three >> years before I became active, when I read a newspaper article > > >Let's see. Politicians and capitalists are not afraid of sacking people, >cutting their wages and benefits, screwing them on health care, busting >their unions, exporting their jobs overseas, cutting public service ...

Document Size:	5872
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Mar 3 12:01:52 PST 2006