[youtube rOI5l2_RghQ]

Courtesy SFGate:

(11-20) 21:44 PST BERKELEY, CALIF. — Forty protesters who barricaded themselves inside Wheeler Hall for 11 hours Friday didn’t win back the 38 custodial jobs they demanded, nor did they persuade the UC regents to rescind their decision to increase tuition by 32 percent next fall.

But their daylong protest spoke directly to the mood of students, faculty and university workers, who demonstrated their frustration with ever-increasing fees and ever-decreasing jobs.

The occupation of the two-story building on the Berkeley campus ended Friday night as Alameda County sheriffs deputies escorted the protesters, all but two of whom where students, out of the building and past more than 2,000 chanting supporters. The protesters will face misdemeanor trespassing charges.

The third and most tumultuous day of protests reflected the anger being displayed on many UC campuses Friday, a day after the regents voted to increase undergraduate tuition and graduate-level fees to help make up a $535 million budget gap brought on by reduced state funding and inflation.

At Berkeley, the daylong occupation of Wheeler Hall began at 6 a.m. when the group entered the second floor of the building. Three students were arrested immediately for burglary as they moved heavy furniture to block doorways, according campus police.

“We decided it was necessary to take action,” said Andi Walden, a Middle Eastern studies and political science major. “A lot of people have been saying, ‘Whose university? Our university.’ So we decided to put that into action.”

Speaking to The Chronicle by phone, she said the protesters had enough food and water to last four days. She also estimated the group as 60-people strong, but later in the day, police said there were 40 protesters inside.

-Article continues @ Source.

Huffington Post

The Latin Americanist
Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Lawyers representing over 600 children of immigrant parents filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration.

In a press conference held yesterday, representatives for pro-immigrant group American Fraternity claimed that they filed the lawsuit in order to halt the deportations of undocumented parents. “Children continue to suffer by being separated from their parents because of deportations that the President may be able to suspend”, said the executive director of the organization.

It’s been reported that the children represented in the lawsuit are all U.S. citizens and most are of Latino background. Two of them-whose parents were originally from Nicaragua- have even taken the extreme measure of going on a hunger strike:

Cecia Sosa, 12, and her brother Ronald, 9, said Tuesday they had initiated a hunger strike to prevent their mother from being deported on the scheduled date, which is (on Wednesday).

Source Article

Sam Stein

On May 28, 2009, I called into Bob Kincaid’s program to refute the FAUX news lie, that Democrats were targeting republican-owned car dealerships for closure. I relayed the local news articles which stated how very large, long-time dealerships were having their franchises pulled, while the dealerships republican Ohio State Senate President Bill Harris founded, were able to keep both their GM and Chrysler licenses.

One dealership I expressed utter confusion over having their franchise pulled, was a company called Spitzer. It’s nearest location is in the county directly beside the one I live in. I grew up listening to their ads on the radio.  Their presence in this part of Ohio is quite large. Frankly, I was outraged to learn that Spitzer was losing its Chrysler franchise, when the little rinky-dink franchise Bill Harris’s namesake bears was keeping theirs.

Be it known to all and sundry, that I no longer feel this way.

This afternoon, I ran across an AP article, which talked about some 14 Chrysler dealers testifying in court, questioning the decision to close their franchises. Among those were Alan Spitzer, whose family began the Spitzer dealership over 100 years ago. Initially, I was happy to read that he was there, and standing up to what I surely thought were closings based on political influence, since after all, he’s not the President of the Ohio State Senate. In fact, I was so impressed with his activism, that I decided to swing past his website and find an email address, so I could let him know that I was rooting for him.

When I got to his website, that’s when my love affair with Alan Spitzer ended.

At the top of his website, there is a message to their Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep customers, stating their business plan to continue providing service for them. But the very last sentence shook me back to reality, just like a needle being pulled across an old vinyl record. That sentence reads:

Please contact President Obama and tell him to stop these closings and let the free market, which makes America great, control their fate.

At first I thought “He couldn’t possibly be blaming the loss of his Chrysler franchises on President Obama, could he??” I then noticed a link to a “special” message to that same group of customers. I clicked on it, and quickly got my answer. It reads, in part:

Auto Dealer Jack Fitzgerald from the DC area stated it very well. You can see his complete interview with Greta Van Susteren from On the Record seen on Fox News.

<snip>

(Referring to President Obama again) Ask him to listen to you, the people. Ask him to watch or listen to the Jack Fitzgerald interview.  We need to make him aware of the grave mistake they will make if they continue down this course of action.

(The video Spitzer talks about is here)

Perhaps Mr. Spitzer needs to take another look at this video, because Mr. Fitzgerald lays the blame at the feet of Chrysler’s management, where it rightfully belongs, rather than trying to pin it on President Obama. What’s also surprising, since this is a FAUX news piece, is that there is NO union bashing or blaming. Mr. Fitzgerald does well to point out that Ford Motor Company is NOT in the same boat as Chrysler and GM.

Incidentally, and this is often an overlooked fact, while the UAW (United Auto Workers) are always blamed as being the downfall of General Motors, Chrysler employs UAW members as well, and they’re never cited as being part of Chrysler’s downfall. Ford also employs UAW members, and Ford is not seeking a bailout, or a bankruptcy, nor are they closing any of their dealerships. So how can the UAW screw up GM so badly, but when it comes to Chrysler’s demise, the same UAW isn’t even mentioned, and the same UAW gets no credit for Ford being on seemingly stable ground? If you need more proof that these companies are driven by management decisions, and not the old evil unions, I wouldn’t know where else to tell you to go look for it.

But back to Spitzer. His attempt to blame President Obama for losing his franchise is, when you cut through all the hyperbole, nothing more than tax day TEA party crap. Spitzer’s repeated “free market” mantra is proof that he clearly blames all that’s wrong in his world on the “big guvmint libruls”, and everything that’s right in his world is because he’s a “self-made” man. I’d be willing to bet that Mr. Spitzer would claim that losing his franchises is proof of the Obama administration “micro-managing” the automobile industry.

Here’s a brief connection: Keith Olbermann slammed Ohio repiglican Congressman Jim Jordan for saying that because of Obama’s micro-management of the car industry, that the GM plant in Ontario, Ohio (Mansfield) is closing. Jordan then wanted Obama to exercise some of the micro-managing he was just complaining about, and keep the plant open. Yeah, really. It’s enough to make you rub your eyes. Mansfield, Ohio is home to one of the Spitzer Chrysler dealerships that has lost its franchise. It must be something in the water. Spitzer, by asking people to contact President Obama, rather than Chrysler Corporation, obviously feels the President has some power to micro-manage the auto industry. In a way, I wish Obama would do what he’s being accused of. Then he could set the salaries for car dealers too, just like he did for the Wall Street banksters. He’d keep your business open, but he’d tell you what a fair salary is. Is that a deal, Mr. Spitzer?

I’ll try to wrap this up. (I heard that!)

I had previously thought that republican Ohio Senate President Bill Harris’s dealerships got to keep their franchises, because of his political clout, and that the Spitzer dealerships were a victim of that. While that may very well still be true, the fact remains that Harris and Spitzer are two hucksters, working the same side of the street. Both are ardent free marketeer supporters. The free market’s goal is to push down wages, while driving maximum profits to those at the top, as tax-free as possible. Both are quick to blame the Democratic Party for failed economic policies that didn’t work when Ronnie Raygun implemented them, and stood no chance of working when Bushco decided it was time to try it again. He who lives by the sword, shall die by it.

Mr. Spitzer, the “free market” you endorse is just chuck full of business opportunities, or at least that’s what you’d have us believe. If losing your franchises is going to impact your ability to earn a living, then perhaps you should do what millions of workers have had to do, as a result of your “free market” philosophy – find a new job!

As for this Buckeye, you couldn’t get me to buy a gumdrop from you, if you were the last one selling them.

-Sue and the Ranting Keyboard