Teamsters union takes all but $15 of UPS workers' pay

Teamsters union takes all but $15 of UPS workers' pay
"...seasonal UPS workers in Boston are dealing with a very different problem this Christmas season. 
It seems that some employees who were hired to help with the holiday surge of shipping were informed that they would need to join the Teamsters to take part in these temporary jobs. 
Imagine their surprise when they finished putting in a lot of overtime during their first week on the job and opened up their paychecks, only to find that the union had taken all of their pay except for an amount that would barely buy two people dinner at McDonald’s. 
CBS Boston has the story of Sheila O’Malley, who found herself in exactly that position with little time left before Saint Nick arrived.

Sheila O’Malley of Charlestown couldn’t believe it when she opened her paycheck from her seasonal job at UPS. “I was shocked,” she told the I-Team. She worked 41 hours that week, many of them during the overnight, and ended up with just $14.52.

Sheila assumed it was a mistake and the money would be refunded. In part, because Sheila, like other thousands of other seasonal part time UPS workers, signed an agreement to pay the $500 Teamsters union initiation fee in $32.00 weekly installments. But UPS told her it wasn’t a mistake. A spokesperson for UPS told the I-Team, “Local 25 reversed this long standing practice by rescinding this policy.”

It wasn’t just Shelia. 

According to the CBS report, this happened to literally thousands of UPS workers. 

And it’s been going on for a while now..."

Democrats Vs. Ordinary Catholic Guys | The American Conservative

Democrats Vs. Ordinary Catholic Guys | The American Conservative
“Why are you Christians so paranoid about the Democrats?”

Because of things like this:

A judicial nominee faced questions from Senators this month about whether membership in the Knights of Columbus might impede his ability to judge federal cases fairly. The Knights of Columbus say that no candidate for public office should have to defend his membership in a Catholic service organization.

Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) raised concerns about membership in the Knights of Columbus while the Senate Judiciary Committee reviewed the candidacy of Brian C. Buescher, an Omaha-based lawyer nominated by President Trump to sit on the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.

Senators also asked whether belonging to the Catholic charitable organization could prevent judges from hearing cases “fairly and impartially.”

In written questions sent to Buescher by committee members Dec. 5, Sen. Hirono stated that “the Knights of Columbus has taken a number of extreme positions. For example, it was reportedly one of the top contributors to California’s Proposition 8 campaign to ban same-sex marriage.”

Hirono then asked Buescher if he would quit the group if he was confirmed “to avoid any appearance of bias.”...

WALSH: Jack Phillips Is Now In Court For Not Baking A 'Gender Transition' Cake. This Is Blatant Religious Persecution. | Daily Wire

WALSH: Jack Phillips Is Now In Court For Not Baking A 'Gender Transition' Cake. This Is Blatant Religious Persecution. | Daily Wire:

Scardina is a bully and a harasser. No rational person believes that his request was made in good faith. Even if it was (which, I emphasize again, it most certainly wasn't), a business owner has the right to decline to lend his labor and skill to the celebration of genital mutilation.

They lie to convince you taxes are good for the poor-----Sugar taxes have not reduced obesity rates anywhere — Institute of Economic Affairs

Sugar taxes have not reduced obesity rates anywhere — Institute of Economic Affairs:
"A global study found taxes on soft drinks, snacks, alcohol and tobacco are more likely to change the lifestyle behaviour of vulnerable poorer consumers.
At the same time, most of the tax revenues would come from higher income households.
Poorer sections of society are disproportionately affected by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) linked to lifestyle, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer, said the authors.
NCDs were described as a “major cause and consequence” of poverty.
The findings, from a series of articles published in The Lancet medical journal, were reported shortly before a controversial sugar tax on soft drinks comes into force in the UK on Friday.
...However the findings were strongly challenged by Christopher Snowdon from the Institute of Economic Affairs.
He said: “The claim that poor people disproportionately benefit from these taxes is absurd. 
“Sugar taxes have not reduced obesity rates anywhere in the world and smoking is much more prevalent among the poor than among the rich, despite decades of high taxes on tobacco.
There is precious little evidence that poor people benefit from being taxed.
On the contrary, sin taxes drive them further into poverty.”

NICK GILLESPIE: The World Is Not Ending Because of Donald Trump.

NICK GILLESPIE: The World Is Not Ending Because of Donald Trump.
"NICK GILLESPIE: 
The World Is Not Ending Because of Donald Trump. In Fact, It’s Not Even Ending.

Trump is doing pretty much exactly what he promised he would do: Shrink our military footprint around the world, insist on a border wall, act impulsively and childlishly. Critics are right to chastise Trump for not following any sort of coherent process in arriving at or announcing his Syria decision, but it’s still the right decision. It’s always ugly and disturbing when the United States pulls out of occupied countries (remember Saigon?), but are we supposed to stay in Syria and Afghanistan forever?
In this case, Trump isn’t the problem. The problem is American foreign policy, which has been a virtually unmitigated disaster for the entire 21st century (and really, can we talk about Yemen at some point?).

The assumption that our prior Syria policy — or our prior foreign policy in general — was some sort of well-oiled high-performance machine that Trump is screwing up is hilarious. 
Who can look at the last two decades and think that?
Besides, you know, people who are paid to.--Posted by Glenn Reynolds"

Lunch video-----United Boeing 377 Stratocruiser Hawaii Travelogue - 1950

Noon-toon

Revealed: Antifa Leader Relied On Anonymity To Push Radical, Violent Communist Agenda | The Daily Caller

Revealed: Antifa Leader Relied On Anonymity To Push Radical, Violent Communist Agenda | The Daily Caller:

Smash Racism DC organizer Jose Martin, also known as “Chepe,” is a radical communist and Antifa leader operating in the U.S. He advocates for the violent overthrow of the government and for the murder of the rich and claims to have international involvement in left-wing movements.
Smash Racism DC is the Antifa group that protested in front of Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s house and berated Sen. Ted Cruz at a restaurant until he and his wife were forced to leave. It’s only one of the Antifa leader’s radical left-wing projects.
But the agitator has made great efforts to separate his fanatical personas from a third identity, his legal name: Joseph “Jose” Alcoff.

Haters gonna hate-----The New York Times Was Against War In Syria Before It Was For It | The Daily Caller

The New York Times Was Against War In Syria Before It Was For It | The Daily Caller
"What a difference a year can make for The New York Times.
As President Donald Trump announced his decision Wednesday to withdraw the nation’s 2,000 troops from Syria, a bipartisan cadre of opinion-havers attacked him as recklessly abandoning allies in the region and jeopardizing America’s influence over foreign affairs.
One newspaper was particularly harsh: The Times.
Quickly after Secretary of Defense James Mattis announced his resignation (in part as a protest against Trump’s decision on Syria) Thursday, America’s paper of record quickly produced a scathing editorial, proclaiming “Jim Mattis Was Right.”
“Who will protect America now?” The Times asked.
...Yet almost a year ago, on Jan. 19, 2018, that same editorial board raked the president over the coals for even daring to continue America’s policy of military adventurism.
The Times expressed concern that more American troops beyond the 2,000 initially deployed could soon be sent overseas in a mission without any clear goals.
“Syria is a complex problem. But this plan seems poorly conceived, too dependent on military action and fueled by wishful thinking,” The Times said..."

#1 Movie this day 1944-----Winged Victory 1944 - Lon McCallister - Jeanne Crain - Edmond O'Brien

Trump Decided To Withdraw From Syria After Stumping John Bolton With One Question | The Daily Caller

Trump Decided To Withdraw From Syria After Stumping John Bolton With One Question | The Daily Caller
"President Donald Trump reportedly stumped national security adviser John Bolton with one crucial question before making his heavily-criticized decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria.

The president agreed to the withdrawal during a December 14 phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan...

But Trump went off-script during the call and agreed with Erdogan, particularly when the Turkish president asked Trump, “Why are you still there?” when the Islamic State had been 99 percent defeated...
...White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller summed up the president’s view during a Thursday night appearance with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

“This president got elected to get our foreign policy back on the right track after years of being adrift,” Miller said. 

“One foreign policy blunder after another in Iraq and Afghanistan and Libya hasn’t worked out for our national interest.”

“And let’s talk about Syria,” he added. 

“Let’s talk about the fact — ISIS is the enemy of Russia. 

ISIS is the enemy of Assad. 

ISIS is the enemy of Turkey. 

Are we supposed to stay in Syria for generation after generation, spilling American blood to fight the enemies of all those countries? 
Wolf, when did the American people sign up to be in every war in every place in every side of every conflict all over planet earth?”..."

#1 This day 1958-----Alvin and The Chipmunks - The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)

Watch: Gary Sinise Foundation Year-End Video Will Leave You in Tears

Watch: Gary Sinise Foundation Year-End Video Will Leave You in Tears

22 Dec 2018329

"The Gary Sinise Foundation released an emotional eight-minute video of its year-end activities, featuring testimonials from veterans and their families about how their lives were changed for the better.
The foundation’s video— released in time for the holiday season— opens with touching scenes of children and families embracing each other while actor Gary Sinise, best known for playing Lt. Dan in the 1994 movie Forrest Gump, and the long-running CBS crime procedural CSI: NY, narrates in the background.
“Family. We share our joy with them; we count on them in troubled times,” Sinise says at the opening of the video..."

You ought to know!

Border Wall Vote Puts Vulnerable 2020 Democrat Senators in Spotlight

Border Wall Vote Puts Vulnerable 2020 Democrat Senators in Spotlight:

Senator Doug Jones (D-AL), who won a December 2017 special election in a state President Trump won by 28 points in 2016 under a perfect storm of unusual circumstances that will not be repeated in 2020, was the only Democrat to vote yes on the motion to proceed with the vote on the House-passed continuing budget resolution.
The other two Democrat senators who are vulnerable in 2020, Sen. Jean Shaheen (D-NH) and Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), both voted no.

Swedish Immigration Policy: In Tentsa, Mass Immigration Without Assimilation | National Review

Swedish Immigration Policy: In Tentsa, Mass Immigration Without Assimilation | National Review
"A case of mass immigration without assimilation
I don’t go to those places without security,” a Swedish journalist tells me when I ask whether she would accompany me to some of her country’s “especially vulnerable” areas. 
The label is given by police to neighborhoods where crime is rampant and parallel social structures compete for authority with the state.
To the politically incorrect, these are also known as “immigrant ghettos.”
...the country that admitted the most migrants per capita was Sweden.
In one year alone, the northern European nation of 10 million added nearly 2 percent to its population. 
Most of those arrivals were young men. 
Tens of thousands more have continued to arrive since then.
It is too early to see the long-term impact of the 2015 migrant crisis, but if the past is any indication of Sweden’s future, the answer may be found in its “vulnerable” neighborhoods.
In recent years, the Nordic state known for scoring among the highest among all nations in quality-of-life indexes has also gained a reputation for gang shootings, grenade attacks, and sexual crimes..."

AM Fruitcake

History for December 24

History for December 24 - On-This-Day.com
Benjamin Rush 1745, Kit Carson 1809, Howard Hughes 1905
 

I.F. Stone 1907, Ava Gardner 1922, Ricky Martin 1971


1818 - Franz Gruber of Oberndorf, Germany composed the music for "Silent Night" to words written by Josef Mohr.


1968 - Three astronauts, James A. Lovell, William Anders and Frank Borman, reached the moon. They orbited the moon 10 times before coming back to Earth. Seven months later man first landed on the moon.

Illegal Alien Assaults Border Patrol Agent | Arizona Daily Independent

Illegal Alien Assaults Border Patrol Agent | Arizona Daily Independent:

A Tucson Sector Border Patrol agent was assaulted by a 19-year-old Mexican man on Wednesday south of Bisbee. The man, who struck the agent in the head with a rock, was charged with assaulting a U.S. Federal agent.

The way we were-----Snoopy's Christmas vs. The Red Baron - The Royal Guardsmen

Boob-tube-----Fractured Fairy Tales -- Snow White

American madrassas!-----UMN pays for students to discuss how 'heterosexism...has damaged us'

UMN pays for students to discuss how 'heterosexism...has damaged us'

• Participants in a University of Minnesota "Social Justice Leadership Retreat" will explore “race and racism, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic, and campus climate."
• Students are charged a $25 fee to participate, with UMN covering transportation, food, and lodging.
• The University of Minnesota Housing and Residential Life Department is hosting a “Social Justice Leadership Retreat" during which students can spend a weekend of “immersion” in social justice.
• “It is so rare that we really let down our guard and tearfully tell people how racism, sexism, heterosexism, etc. has damaged us.”    

“The Social Justice Leadership Retreat is designed to help educate students about the concepts of social justice and community leadership through exploration of their own stories, the stories of others, and issues of oppression and privilege..."...

Boob-tube-----Fred Astaire & Eleanor Powell - Jukebox Dance

Huge Oil Spill Isn't China's Real Offshore Disaster - Bloomberg

Huge Oil Spill Isn't China's Real Offshore Disaster - Bloomberg:
"...The fact is, thanks to massive overfishing in China's territorial waters, there isn't much marine life left to kill in the disaster zone. 
...The shift was driven by a massive jump in China's seafood consumption as its population has become more affluent. 
...Chinese seafood consumption increased 50 percent in just the last decade, to 62 million tons annually. That accounts for nearly two-thirds of global growth.
China's wild catch from its territorial waters is now around 13 million tons, up from around 3 million tons in the mid-1970s. 
Even China's Ministry of Agriculture says that's roughly 25 percent more than what's sustainable. 
And it's still not enough: China's gone from being a seafood exporter to a seafood importer because of burgeoning demand..."