Wal-Mart's Ideological Indoctrination

Tell the FEC: Investigate Wal-Mart!
Well, today Change to Win, along with many other labor groups, delivered a formal complaint to the Federal Election Commission asking them to stop Wal-Mart’s pressure program:
http://www.changetowin.org/connect/2008/08/tell_the_fec_investigate_walma.html
Ideological Indoctrination at Walmart?
Tell The FEC to Investigate Walmart's Mandatory Political Meetings
Help us hold Walmart accountable for the tasteless, possibly illegal political meetings held nation wide
Mandatory political indoctrination, Democrat-bashing, voter intimidation. Yes, it's business as usual at Wal-Mart.
This summer, Wal-Mart has organized mandatory meetings across the country, all with one purpose: to intimidate rank-and-file employees into voting Republican. The company's workers have been forced to attend ideologically-charged, Wal-Mart-sponsored rants against Democrats, Barack Obama, and landmark legislation that would make it easier for workers to vote for or against representation.
We have received several calls from workers, their stories are very similar and similarly unsettling. As one worker put it, "they were telling me how to vote." Another Wal-Mart worker, Beth from Alabama, was told by Wal-Mart management that if she "voted for John McCain, then everything would be okay."
We believe that ideological indoctrination and political scare tactics are completely inappropriate for the workplace. Yet again, Wal-Mart's management has crossed the line, possibly breaking the law in the process. In light of these developments, we are calling for an immediate FEC investigation into Wal-Mart's political bullying at work, but we need your help to make a real impact.
Please tell the FEC to investigate Wal-Mart's mandatory political meetings today. Sign the petition on this page [link below] to send a complaint to the FEC in your name.
Outright political intimidation may seem too risqué for a global corporation. Not for Wal-Mart. Stories like the above are actually an emerging part of Bentonville's corporate culture.
Take 2006, when Wal-Mart organized a "voter education program" for employees. The company placed Terry Nelson at the helm: formerly George W. Bush's political director, and later fired for making racist ads about a Democratic politician. Unsurprisingly, Wal-Mart's "education" program amounted to a thin veneer over strident attacks against Democratic candidates nation wide.
Why has Wal-Mart made such an effort to control its workers' voting habits? For one, The company is terrified that Democratic gains will ensure passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. For Wal-Mart, an organized workforce could spell higher wages and better benefits—two things the company has fought tirelessly to avoid.
In the end, Wal-Mart's motives are a moot point. The company has crossed the line, again, and it's time to hold them accountable. You can help us end Wal-Mart's sleazy political schemes by taking a moment to write the FEC today.
Please use the form on this page [link below] to write the FEC and demand an investigation into Wal-Mart's mandatory employee meetings
http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/feature/scaretactics/

Operation Torch = Brave New Subways

Good old CBS News gives us grinning, cheerful Magee Hickey to happily tell us that EVERYONE seems to like the idea. Oh, really? Or is Magee using her media power to persuade us it's okay, (maybe even terrific!) for cops to roam the subways armed for mass slaughter. The result of this money drain will be more intimidation, harassment and bullying of innocent civilians by the most frightened, paranoid members of the NYPD who will have, just like those pathetic murderers of Sean Bell, itchy trigger fingers. As far as liking the idea, EVERYONE I KNOW knows the terrorists are in the White House, and M4 carbine rifles in our subways won't stop terrorists because the war is on hard working people. Which side are you on?
Machine Gun-Toting Officers To Patrol NYC Subway M4 Carbine Rifles, MP5 Submachine Guns & Bomb Sniffing Dogs Part Of New "Torch Team" Anti-Terror Efforts
NEW YORK (CBS) ― The NYPD is pulling out all the stops to beef up safety of the subways. On Thursday it launched a new anti-terror effort called "Operation Torch," but the cost of the program is raising some eyebrows.
The NYPD's new firepower consists of cops with Mp5 submachine guns, rifles, body armor and bomb-sniffing dogs.
Starting Thursday, five or six teams a day will patrol the major transit hubs in the city in the new program, all thanks to a 50 percent increase in a Homeland Security grant.
"Times Square, Grand Central, Penn Station … the locations you would expect, but not only those locations. The assignments will vary and will be following no discernible pattern," NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said.
[...] Similarly equipped NYPD units known as "Hercules" teams have been patrolling the ground on Wall Street, the Empire State Building and other city landmarks.
Everyone seems to like the idea of an added police presence, particularly to fight terrorism on subway platforms, but then when you mention the price tag -- $151 million – then people aren't so sure.
[...] Of the $151 million in the federal grant, $30 million will be used for this underground anti-terrorist program for the next two years.[...]
http://wcbstv.com/local/machine.guns.subway.2.707398.html

Dueling Press Releases

It's a mixed bag, a tossed salad, as it were of radio operatics ("ga ga"'s been done) as our heroine, Randi gets tossed overboard for using her First Amendment (are you with me, Rev. Billy?) righteous voice to say what she (gassssp) t h i n k s ! But she's found a new home, joining the equally impressive and funny Mike Malloy on Nova M.
But now, at least for a month, those of us without access to Nova M can ring them bells with.............Richard Belzer on Air America! [conspiracy, anyone?]
Air America to Feature Celebrity Drive-Time Guest Hosts-Richard Belzer Kicks Off Series Starting Monday April 14 during the 3-6 - Beginning Monday April 14, Air American Radio will present a month-long series of celebrities who guest host all week during the 3-6 PM ET period.
The programs launch with noted comedian, author and actor Richard Belzer, well-known for his work as Det. John Munch on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and numerous other movie and TV roles. Belzer will be joined by special guests to be announced, bringing an entertaining, fast-paced and engaging afternoon listening experience to Air America Radio audiences nationwide all next week.
and from Nova M Radio...
Randi Rhodes is the #1 rated progressive talk radio host in the nation.
Nova M CEO John Manzo says, “I just can’t stop smiling - Randi is simply the biggest and the best. Randi Rhodes and Mike Malloy under one roof – talk about TALENT!”
Randi Rhodes adds, “With Manzo at helm of Nova M, I am truly going to work for the best of the best. He is radio elite…and I am too . I’m home, I’m home, I’m home!”
“The Randi Rhodes Show” will air live Mon-Fri from 3-6pm Eastern on The Nova M Radio Network.
ABOUT RANDI RHODES
Randi Rhodes is a radio pioneer who put Progressive Talk Radio on the national stage when everyone told her it could not be done. This Brooklyn native became a national talk radio hero to millions when in 2004 she left South Florida radio, where she had the #1 ranked talk show in her market, for national syndication. Randi started her radio odyssey quite modestly by playing ‘classic country’ in a storefront studio in Seminole, TX but today holds the mantle of the #1 progressive talk show host in the nation. Randi is impeccably researched and infectiously funny, she starred in the HBO documentary “Left of the Dial”, is listed in Talkers Magazine’s “Heavy Hundred” and is probably watching C-SPAN right now.
http://www.novamradio.com/
Good luck, Randi. You are a working class hero. Rock on!