In Every newspaper, every nook, I see blatant bullshit wherever I look. Prolific bullshit, pro and con, Man deceiving man, like human pawns. . We Bullshit our children whenever we can On the role of government, and the sojourn of man; We bullshit the people regarding their lot, While failing to address the conservative plot. And now I hear even Santa's a myth, So even my mother got caught up in this. . So, My threshold for Bullshit is extremely low, I sense him wherever he hides; While Langston Hughes has known his rivers, I've known Bullshit in every disguise: . I've Known bullshit lovers of innocent women, Who fades with a piece a ass, I've known bullshit preachers who loved the Lord, But not nearly as much as your cash; I've known bullshit politicians, who "Just want to help" Right up til they get your vote, Then after reciting their bullshit oath can't wait to start cuttin' your throat.
. Yes, Bullshit's a stalker who seems to haunt me; I see him wherever I go-- On the street, in the store, In the eyes of my lover, Though I try to deny that it's so.
. I used to Simply shut my eyes, so I wouldn't see him no more,
But my ears betrayed me and-- Knock, Knock, Knock-- "It's Bullshit. Open the door!" . So I came up with a plan to take a stand, and Confront Bullshit wherever he hides; Like the terrorist he is, you must weed him out, By confronting him where he resides.
. I learned That shit will be shit because shit is shit's nature, So it's really not Bullshit's fault; It's the fault of the people for embracing ignorance, For the enemy of Bullshit is thought.
Mr. President:
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I’ve been one of your biggest supporters every since you arrived on the political scene. But I must admit, my support of you has become far from unwavering and much less enthusiastic than it was at this time during your 2008 campaign. The primary reason for that is I’ve found it literally impossible to reconcile your claim of full support for the poor and middle class while at the same time you’re completely ignoring the horrendous abuse that your very own United States Postal Service is perpetrating against its employees.
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The U. S. Postal Service is not simply insensitive toward its employees, the agency is actually engaged in torturous intimidation, threats, and criminal extortion. In the Los Angeles District, for example, postal officials routinely use threats, harassment, and intimidation to force employees to work off the clock without pay. And in many cases, when an employee does have the courage to hit the clock, managers and/or supervisors will use a special code to go into the system and falsify the employee's time. The agency is robbing its employees just as blatantly as if it was a a thug in a parking lot.
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And the theft of employee earnings that’s become so rampant throughout the Los Angeles district is far from an aberration. The postal service has clearly adopted time fraud as a national business strategy. One law suit against the postal service alleged that time fraud against its employees is so rampant and widespread that it constitutes a criminal enterprise. The attorney in the case actually tried to charge the postal service with violation of the RICO Act (The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act), the law passed by congress to go after the Mafia – and the postal service didn’t deny the charge. Instead, it simply petitioned the court to throw out the allegation based on the fact that a government agency can’t be charged with engaging in a criminal enterprise.
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The post office indicated in it’s response that “The Postal Service is not Subject to RICO liability as Part of the Federal Government; and Postal Service Officials Cannot Be Held Criminally liable for Acts Committed in Their Official Capacity.” Donahue vs FBI (pdf) . The petition further states “the Supreme Court observed ( in USPS vs Flamingo Industries (pdf) ) that while the Postal Reorganization Act of 1971 may have waived the Postal Service’s immunity from suit, it…did not strip it of its governmental status.”
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On December 2, 2009, Arbitrator Sherrie Rose Talmadge said in her decision against the postal service for time fraud that “Management’s violations were so egregious over a period of many years that punitive damages were awarded to deter the service from further clock ring violations.”
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Here’s a typical example of how the United States Postal Service treats its employees - and this is a supervisor (204B); craft employees are treated even worse:
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JoAnn Snow was the closing supervisor for Bicentennial Station in Los Angeles, and she held that position for 21 years. Her responsibilities were to follow up behind all of the supervisors that worked during the day to make sure that all of the mail was delivered, and to ensure that all mail collected during the day was dispatched to the general mail facility for processing in a timely manner. That included checking every route and every vehicle for "sleeper mail" that might have been overlooked during the day. She was also responsible for seeing that the mail in every collection box in the service area was collected on time, but not before the time indicated on the box. In addition, she returned calls and addressed all customer complaints that had been overlooked, or more often than not, shunned by supervisors during the day.
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In short, it was Ms. Snow's job to check behind every employee, and supervisor, each day to make sure that they'd carried out all of their responsibilities, and according to Eugene Jeffries (her former manager), and her unprecedented longevity in her position, there was none better at what she did.
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Protecting the interest of the postal service, its employees, and customers was, literally, Ms. Snow's life. She worked seven days a week for two years. She came in on Sundays for nine years to ensure that the Express Mail for several post offices was delivered to the customers in a timely manner - and most of that time she did it without being compensation.
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As Mr. Jeffries pointed out in a statement, she would often volunteer her own time to make sure she carried out all of her responsibilities efficiently. Jeffries said:
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“I was the Manager of Customer Service at Bicentennial Station in Los Angeles from 1997 until I retired in 2001. I was Ms Snow's manager during this time. Prior to coming to Bicentennial Station, the two previous managers, Lloyd Curtis and James Barnett had apprised me of Ms Snow's supervisory skills and total dedication to duty and company. Upon coming to the unit I was not disappointed and found all they had told me concerning Ms Snow was true.
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“Ms. Snow was one of my closing and weekend supervisors. She had an exceptional knowledge of the overall operation and excelled at running a difficult unit and she required little to no supervision. She could be counted on to work beyond what was normally considered an average work day without complaint. She always finished her assignments no matter how long her day was extended and this included weekends. She has excellent interpersonal skills which you need supervising the diverse workforce at Bicentennial Station. Ms Snow exceeded my expectations relative to handling my business customers and resolving complaints. In addition to all of this, Ms. Snow would routinely call the office on her scheduled off day to see how things were going and offer her assistance if needed.
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“Joann Snow proved to be an invaluable asset and even now in retirement, I often think of her and thank her when I talk to her for helping make my tour at Bicentennial successful.”
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Sincerely,
Eugene Jeffries
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But instead of thanking Ms. Snow for her dedication, the new breed of postal managers felt that "we've got a fool here," and began to load her down with additional responsibilities, to the point, in fact, that she would still be in the post office when the morning shift arrived (she comes in at 12 noon) - and they expected, in fact, DEMANDED, that she do it for free! As a result, instead of going home, she had to check into a motel across the street from the post office. At that point she had no alternative but to start hitting the clock to be compensated for the time she was being forced to work. That's when her problems began - Tyrone Williams (her new area manager) called her while she was in the motel - after she’d worked a double shift - and demanded to know why she hit the clock!
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According to Ms. Snow, when she told Mr. Williams that she was being loaded down with so many additional responsibilities that she couldn't get them all accomplished in a reasonable time, Mr. Williams told her that she sounded like one of the carriers. She was told that she simply wasn't managing her time wisely, and if she couldn't do any better she'd be returned to delivering mail - this, to a woman over fifty, with twenty-one years of dedicated service as a supervisor.
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Thereafter, her manager, Ms. Luna, stayed with her to assist her with her responsibilities, but even with Luna’s assistance it still took them nearly twelve hours to complete the additional responsibilities that had been placed on Ms. Snow. Ms. Luna finally left about midnight, leaving Ms. Snow there alone. Thus, they were demanding that Ms. Snow do in eight hours what both she, and her manager, couldn’t accomplish in twelve. So Ms. Snow stuck to her guns, and just as Mr. Williams threatened, on Monday, April 12, 2010 she was scheduled to be "retrained" to carry mail. So she was demoted from a job she held for twenty-one years - before her manager even hired into the post office - for refusing to work for free.
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Several managers who were familiar with Ms. Snow's work ethic and competence as a supervisor offered to bring her aboard their operations as a supervisor, but Mr. Williams refused to release her out of his jurisdiction. Allegedly, he claimed that retraining her to carry mail would help him hold down his overtime.
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18 U.S.C. § 1001 reads, “Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully - (1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact; (2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or (3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry; shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both.”
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In spite of the above law, the postal service left no stone unturned to protected both Tyrone Williams and Marci Luna for allegedly conspiring to falsify Ms. Snow’s time records. Among other things, they allegedly falsified the records to reflect three-hour lunch breaks that Ms. Snow never took. In response, not only did the agency fail to hold these managers accountable for their criminal conduct, but allegedly, the agency gave Mr. Williams an award, and promoted both managers. Do our laws mean anything, or are they now just window dressing to give us the allusion of justice?
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The postal service’s labor relations manager, Steve Marney offered to pay Ms. Snow several thousand dollars to drop her claim against the agency, but with the proviso that she also drop her demand that Area Manager Williams and Manager Marci Luna be fired. When she refused, they circumvented her by getting the NALC to agree to it without Ms. Snow.
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In anticipation of this action, Ms. Snow wrote Larry Brown, president of branch 24 and national trustee of the NALC. In her letter she specifically demanded that the union not settle her case without the removal of both managers who falsified her time. The letter reads in part,
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“April 30, 2010
President Larry Brown:
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“I spoke to Ray Espana today, and he told me that he was meeting with Marci Luna and the postal service next Friday to get me paid for their falsifying my clock rings. I told him at that time that I didn't just want to be paid. I want the people responsible for falsifying my time removed from the postal service. In response, Ray told me that he couldn't do that. That's what EEOs are for. That's a bunch of crap! Ray has been Executive Vice President of Branch 24 for over 15 years. You'd think that he'd know that the EEO procedure is for discrimination, not simple theft . . .
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“I am formally requesting that you have someone handle my case who is both knowledgeable, and has some modicum of integrity. And DO NOT RESOLVE THIS CASE WITHOUT THE PEOPLE WHO PERPETRATED THIS CRIME, AT THE VERY LEAST, BEING REMOVED FROM THE POSTAL SERVICE. Nothing else is acceptable.”
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Almost exactly one year later Ms. Snow received the following letter from the NALC:
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“Dear Mr. Jackson:
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"Calvin Brookins and I discussed the above captioned grievance on at least two occasions, the last being April 15, 2011.
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"After a full review of the information, contentions, and arguments, both parties have reached the pre-arbitration settlement. In reviewing TACS records and the other information contained in the file it was agreed that the grievant is entitled to compensation.
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"The Grievant will receive a lump-sum payment of $7,866.26 as compensation.
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"This agreement is entered without prejudice to the position of the parties and constitutes full settlement of the issues pertaining to this grievance.
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Steve Marney
Manager Labor Relations
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Calvin Brookins
NALC”
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With that, the postal service swept three federal crimes against one of its employees under the rug - conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and falsifying government documents.
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I've sent you the following statement several times, but I'm sending it again, because it amazes me how you can claim to be standing up for the middle class and continue to ignore it. Dr. Stephen Musacco, an organizational psychologist, a therapist with thirty years experience in the postal service, and the author of "Beyond Going Postal,” says the following: . “Prior to my retirement from the USPS, at a former district I worked for, there were three suicides within a two year period that I concluded were contributed to in significant part by how these employees were treated in the workplace. The third employee, a city letter carrier, fatally shot himself in a postal jeep and left a letter stating that he could no longer take the job. The night before he committed suicide he told his wife he did not know if he would be able to handle his job anymore. How do I know? His wife told me this one day after his suicide. He was one of the best employees in the office. The District Manager and I interviewed his coworkers after his death, and they stated he would urinate in a bottle while on delivery route for fear he would not meet an artificial deadline set by postal management. During the interviews, one of the postal supervisors told the District Manager and me that the day before the suicide she gave a letter to all the city letter carriers in the station, noting that any future over time used for their routes would be considered unacceptable performance. The suicide at the Gastonia postal facility was the second since December 2005. . “Many people have asked: Why is there so much stress and workplace tragedies in the U.S. Postal Service? The answer to these questions is because the postal culture embraces and reflects core values that center on achieving bottom-line results with little or no regard for employee participation, respect, dignity, or fairness. Additionally, there is little or no accountability for the actions of top management in the Postal Service. Many postal facilities consequently have toxic work environments, and they can be a catalyst or trigger for serious acts of workplace violence, including homicide and suicide. The associated rewards system for behavior consistent with the postal culture core values, moreover, enables systemic organizational and individual bullying of employees at all levels of the organization.” .
Mr. President, I’ve written over twenty-five articles relating to the criminally abusive practices within the U. S. Postal Service, and I’ve sent most of them to the White House. So I’m sorry, Sir, but considering your lack of response to what’s going on in your own government agency, your solemn pledge of support for middle-class workers hits my ear like a bad note. We'd like to hear a lot less political rhetoric, and see a lot more action.
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While you continue to claim you’re in full support of fairness and justice for veterans, the poor, and the middle class, your United States Postal Service is the second largest employer of veterans and middle class workers in this country, yet it is routinely committing federal crimes against them on a daily basis. You don’t need congress to address this issue, so you cannot continue to claim support for middle-class justice while allowing this situation to exist. Thus, it's going to be very interesting to see what you do about it, or extremely instructive if you choose to do nothing.
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And by the way, Ms. Snow’s son is a career non-commissioned officer in the military. So while he’s away fighting for the just treatment of others, his very own government is at home treating his mother like soiled toilet tissue. This situation is absolutely unconscionable, and it speaks directly to your credibility, so I sincerely suggest that you get in front of this issue before the election season heats up.
Eric L. Wattree
http://wattree.blogspot.com/
Ewattree@Gmail.com
Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)
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Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.
A Love Supreme, A Love Supreme,
A Love Supreme, A Love Supreme . . .
The howling winds, the roaring sea,
The stars above, a part of you and me;
All a gift, from he who is HE,
The wondrous Prince, of all eternity.
A Love Supreme, A Love Supreme,
A love Supreme, A Love Supreme . . .
The restless tide, with it’s mystic lure,
The hue of a setting Sun, that paints the shore;
All a gift, forevermore,
From A loving God, that I adore.
A Love Supreme, A Love Supreme,
A Love Supreme, A Love Supreme . . .
I take my horn, to sing his praise,
I'll sing his song, throughout my days,
and when I'm gone, I'm still not through,
I'll leave behind this song for you. A Love Supreme, A Love Supreme,
A Love Supreme, A Love--
"My loving child, now that you are through,
I take thou horn, and lie it next to you.
In loving praise, you always blew,
Now, sleep my child as I sing to you . . .
A Love Supreme, A Love Supreme,
A Love Supreme, A Love Supreme . . ."
******************************
Related Post *
The Man - An Excursion intothe World of Jazz
Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)
Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.
I’m about to throw you a curve here, Milton. I’m sure it’s going to strike you as beyond curious that during these dire political times one of your most strident political columnists would be writing you about music. But mark my words, I’m discussing much more than simply music here. This article describes an auspicious event that’s taking place in the world of jazz, which, for over a hundred years has always signaled a significant change in our political environment. So please don’t confuse this with a music review. Music is just the backdrop. My actual intent is to allow our readers to become a witness to history. Let me explain what I mean:
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For over a century the developments in jazz have always been a harbinger of things to come. It was jazz that made the Roaring Twenties roar, with people like Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller. It was also jazz that sustained us through the Great Depression of the thirties, with the driving big bands of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Chick Web, bringing along great ladies like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. Later, jazz bolstered our troops to defeat fascism during WWII with people like Benny Goodman and Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey. Then after the war, the celebratory sounds of bebop appeared on the scene, with Charlie parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and the fabulous Sarah Vaughan to usher in an era of the most sustained prosperity that this country has ever known. Then during the fifties and sixties Miles and Trane took over the reins to signal the emergence of a new Black consciousness, and the birth of a generation of Black people who were unwilling to "take their place" on the back of the bus.
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Now, due to the harmonic complexity and sophistication of jazz, it’s certainly not the most popular music in the country, since much of it is beyond the easy grasp of the masses. But that doesn’t make it any less influential in shaping the thinking of the people, because due to the musical innovations that continue to take place within its insulated world, jazz invariably defines the course of the music that the masses can understand. Thus, over the years, jazz has unfailingly defined the tenor of our times, and so it is again.
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One day a musician friend of mine approached me and said he wanted me to hear a CD. I'm an old school musician - Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Mile Davis, etc. - so I'm not very big on today’s commercialism, but since he was a friend and fellow sax player, I agreed to take a listen.
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The CD was the work of a lady by the name of Rita Edmond, a name that I hadn’t ever heard before, but before this sister got to the bridge of the first chorus of the tune, I knew this wasn't just another singer. It was clear to me that this woman was a talent on the level of Ella, Sarah, and Dinah Washington. So when my friend saw my reaction, he started telling me that he could get me a copy of the CD, but I told him, "No, I want this one," and I literally SEIZED the CD from the brother. I threw some money on the hood of his car, and went to the park and spent hours listening to this fabulous lady, and I found every tune on the CD to be just as good or better than the one before. Thereafter, I broke my policy of only writing about politics, and plunged into an article about this very special lady.
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Ms Edmond is not just an entertainer, she’s a harbinger of a new era, so her discrete and unheralded arrival on the jazz scene is indeed ironic. She should have been welcomed with blaring horns, because her very presence signals the end of an era of gross mediocrity in the country, and in modern jazz.
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Perhaps that’s why in spite of the fact that she’s getting the accolades of flawless reviews, invited to open Dodger games, and being sought out to sing at celebrity weddings, the industry as a whole is doing its very best to blot her out. You see, the industry is a step ahead of us. They understand what Ms Edmond represents - a frontal assault on the forces of mediocrity.
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Rita Edmond looms as a serious threat to both the business and the political interests of those who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. If the masses begin to embrace Ms Edmond as the standard that defines talent, excellence, and class, the millions of dollars that the industry has spent to promote mediocrity will go for naught. And on a political level, Ms Edmond’s style, professionalism, and focused pursuit of excellence is absolutely toxic to the media’s attempt to dumb-down America.
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Rita has produced two CDs so far - “Sketches of A Dream” and “A Glance at Destiny,” (which she certainly is). And she came out the gate jumping in with both feet. On both CDs she tackles standards and signature songs by some of the best singers who ever lived, and she didn’t come up short once. Every song she does is either comparable or better than the version that made it famous - and any song on either of the two CDs could serve as the title song of the CD itself.
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And we’re not talkin’ fillers, here. On both CDs you definitely get your money’s worth. On the CD, "Sketches of a Dream," she does Dindi, Star Eyes, You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To, Body And Soul, All The Way, On The Street Where You Live, My Romance, Never Let Me Go, Day By Day, Out of Nowhere, Just In Time, Here’s That Rainy Day, You Stepped Out Of A Dream, Misty, Almost Like Being In Love, and Our Love Is Here To Stay. And the CD, "A Glance at Destiny", is just as formidable, where she does songs like Sunny, You’ve Changed, It Might As Well Be Spring, and You Don’t Know What Love Is.
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Of particular note on "A Glance At Destiny," Ms Edmond does Here’s To Life.That song has been done by some of the greatest singers in the world, both living and dead, but Rita has made that song her own. I challenge anyone who’s ever dedicated their life to fighting the good fight to try to get through that song with dry eyes. I’ve listened to it hundreds of times now, and I haven’t been successful yet.
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So yes, Rita Edmond is far from just another entertainer. This lady is the consummate artist. While she has a four octave range, unlike lesser singers, she never uses it frivolously just to say to the audience “look what I can do.” She never over-sings, and she never under-sings. She always puts the music first, and only dips into her formidable resources when the music demands it. In fact, every time she sings a song, it serves as a tribute to the composer.
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Yet, she puts her undeniable stamp on every song she sings, but again, not with frivolous and over-the-top embellishments, but with pure passion, and the power of excellence. The emotion in her ballads drip like honey, and she swings with the effortless finesse of a Bentley cruising down Pacific Coast Highway.
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Clear evidence of my assessment of Ms Edmond can be found in a YouTube video of her appearing at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She does“Embraceable You” with Harold Land, Jr. on keyboard. Her performance is simply flawless. The only thing missing is the melodic tones of Charlie Parker in the background. Bird would have loved her, because even as a relatively young woman, she belongs to his world.
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Milton, I realize that I've made a series of grandiose assertions here, and since we're both objective journalists I don't expect you to simply take me at my word. So I've attached a few links below. Take a minute and listen to this lady for yourself. I'm sure that when you're done my credibility will remain firmly intact.
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Thus, I've written this as both an article and a personal communication because you’re in a position to do the world a favor. I know you’ve got an ongoing relationship with Bill Cosby, and I also happen to know that Bill is a huge supporter of jazz. After you've listened to Rita yourself, take a minute to contact Bill and have him give her a listen. You'll not only be doing the world a favor, but you'll be doing Bill and yourself a favor as well. I assure you, Bill will be eternally grateful to you for providing him the opportunity to make a huge contribution to jazz, and also, for allowing him to give the world . . . a glance at destiny.
Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.
Wednesday, November 09, 2011
BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE
President Obama: Respect workers’ Rights - Emancipate United States Postal Workers
PART III
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We thought it would be instructive if we took the time to reprise in part an article that we did in December of 2009. During that time we wrote a series of articles pointing out that the United States Postal Service was a microcosm of America as a whole, so to ignore the plight of it’s employees would come back to bite middle-class workers as a whole. . At this writing, Ohio voters are in the process of voting to repeal a Draconian assault on middle-class workers by Governor John Kasich and his Republican legislature. It’s one of many votes across the country that’s only necessary because American workers refused to wake up to the fact that the only way to fight for their own justice, is to fight for the justice of others. . Ohio voters wouldn’t have had the problem they’re facing if they wouldn’t have ignored the threat that the GOP posed to workers when they elected Kasich, but they thought he was only a threat to others. But now they’ve found out the hard way that injustice toward some is a threat to the justice of all, and it’s much more difficult to fight off injustice when you wait until the boots are at your door. . The Tea Party abruptly woke up to this fact as well. By the way, when was the last time you heard from the Tea Party? I'll tell you when - when the GOP started talking about attacking Social Security, Medicare, and the programs that have a direct impact on their lives. Isn't it funny how fast people begin to see the light when the quality of THEIR lives are under attack?
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The Role of Poor, Minorities, and Middle Class in the New World Order
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The phrase New World Order says it all. But in our blind naivete' and the belief that it can't happen here, the vast majority of American people believe the phrase refers to the reshuffling, in terms of importance, of the various nations around the world. We fail to understand that the change is much more profound than that. The new world order not only applies to a geo-political reshuffling among nations, but the reshuffling of the internal economic structure within individual nations as well.
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That means that as the world moves from many separate national economies to one global economy the class structure of the various nations of the world must be adjusted to accommodate the new state of affairs. In turn, that means that the high standard of living enjoyed by the American middle class since WWII can no longer be sustained in an economy where many of America's competitors are paying their workers less per week than many of us spend on lunch per day. That accounts for why American jobs are being outsourced to other countries, and Walmart, one of the largest retail corporations in the world, has based its business model on purchasing most of its merchandise from China in order to undercut the price demands of its competitors.
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Walmart is a microcosm of the revised American business strategy under the new world order. Must only look at Walmart's business model, and the socioeconomic profile of its employees, and see exactly what direction American business, and our society, is headed as a whole.
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Walmart's business strategy is to hire easily replaceable and low skilled employees who are at, or very near, the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. It then takes advantage of their precarious economic condition to squeezes every dime of profit out of the company's operation . They aggressively fight organized labor to hold down employee wages and benefits, and deny their employees anything approaching affordable healthcare. That, essentially, is the American business model under the new world order.
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But now there is a new wrinkle. Now, the United States government has embraced this anti middle class business model. In the past the U.S. government was dedicated to enhancing the standard of living of workers all over the world to conform to the standard of living of U.S. workers, but now, as evidenced by the abusive employment practices of the U.S. Postal Service - the second largest employer of middle-class workers in the country - the United States has clearly embraced the corporatist philosophy that it’s easier to lower the standard of living of American workers to conform to that of third world countries.
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Thus, at this point, American workers are on their own. Neither business nor government are on our side. Where business was once our partner in a symbiotic relationship, it is now a predator to consumers and employees alike. Our parents could pull into a gas station and a guy in a white shirt and bow tie would run out to check their oil and water, then put air in their tires as he pumped twenty-two cents a gallon gas into their tanks. I know, gas is no longer that cheap, but what happen to the service?
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The reason for the change is greed. When the United States had a thriving industrial economy, one class complimented the other. Labor was well paid and given the security of knowing that they had a job for life, so they had the confidence to purchased goods that the corporations produced. That allowed the companies that sold the goods to prosper, to the benefit of the investor class.
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But now, in a global market, in order to remain competitive with countries that pay their workers just above slave wages, corporations have to squeeze every penny and every concession out of the labor class that they can get. And since the heads of these corporations must make huge profits to justify their unconscionably oversized bonuses, they prey on their workers by undercutting their benefits and outsourcing the very jobs that the economy is dependent upon to sustain the corporation, and the nation. But since these corporate heads live from bonus to bonus and only think about themselves, they never stop to consider the negative impact of their irresponsible behavior on the economic viability of the nation.
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So now, when Wall Street or the Fed announces that the economy is thriving, they're not talking about the American economy as a whole - they're only talking about the monetary return of the investor class. A thriving economy means they're successfully squeezing the American worker to the limit and gouging the consumer of every penny that he can afford to part with - and a few that he can't. It is that kind of greed and irresponsibility that led to the 2008 economic disaster, and nothing has changed.
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In the global economy of the new world order, corporations no longer need the American worker to sustain their profits. Now that they can outsource their labor, and purchase and sell their goods overseas, the American worker is no longer a partner in the corporation's viability. the worker has now been relegated to the status of field hand. The only time they need us is when they want to tap the treasury for our tax dollars to pay off their gambling debts.
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An article in Wikipedia points out that the AIG Financial Products division, headed by Joseph Cassano, in London, had entered into credit default swaps to insure $441 billion worth of securities originally rated AAA. Of those securities, $57.8 billion were structured debt securities backed by subprime loans. So not only did the American taxpayer pay off this insurance company's debt, but we paid off a debt that originated in another country.
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Now, your money is being taken once again, but this time, they're taking YOUR money, to pay YOUR representative, to block an attempt by President Obama to stop them from cutting your throat in a time of crisis, just like they did to the corporations on Wall Street. But there's one very big difference - you and you're family are NOT too big to fail, so without the benefit of a robust, job creation program like the one proposed by president Obama, but being blocked by the GOP, you're simply gonna bite the dust - and with the corrupt and able assistance of many of your very own representatives.
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Think about that, and urge president Obama to step up to the plate and emancipate United States postal Workers, because they represent the American middle class as a whole.
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Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)
Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.
President Obama: Respect workers’ Rights - Emancipate United States Postal Workers
PART II
As pointed out in Part I of this series, on August 13, 2011, after Carrier Sylvester Burton inadvertently left part of his mail in the station, he alleges that U.S. Postal Service supervisor, Juanita Hamblet, of Rimpau Station in Los Angeles, came out to his route and subjected him to severe verbal abused. According to Mr. Burton and an independent witness, Ms. Hamblet came out to his route and began to verbally accost him in a very hostile and aggressive manner. Then when Burton asked the supervisor why she was harassing him, the following exchange took place:
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“She then walked up to me, her hand in my face and said, ‘I CAN HARASS YOUR ASS AS MUCH AS I WANT, AND I WILL CONTINUE TO HARRASS YOUR ASS. I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOU BURTON - I THINK YOUR ASS IS GAY. TAKE YOUR ASS BACK TO THE STATION, I’M GONNA CALL THE POSTAL POLICE ON YOUR ASS!’
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“So I pulled about 8 feet away from her and parked, wondering if I should follow this woman’s instructions or ignore her and finish delivering mail. Then she walked up to me again, and said, ‘I SAID TAKE YOUR ASS BACK TO THE STATION! THAT’S A DIRECT ORDER!’
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When we got back to the station she ran into Mrs. Stanley’s office and told the manager that I called her a bitch, I threatened her, and that I almost ran over her. She also said that I was a coward and she was intimidated by my presence.”
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One of the customers on the route wrote a statement substantiating Mr. Burton’s account of the incident, adding, “My entire family including my seven year-old niece had to witness this entirely unprofessional vulgar outburst. The cursing and swearing peppered with the f-word and the homophobic remarks was nothing less than shocking and completely inappropriate. I was extremely offended by her homophobic remarks and I am myself gay, not to mention the cursing and swearing in front of our child . . . You need to DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS WOMAN. While representing the USPS no one should be able to behave that badly and make that big of a scene in public plus publicly attacking a subordinates sexual orientation and be allowed to keep their job. If Mr. Burton sues for harassment I will gladly be a witness on his behalf.”
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There have been several complaints regarding the behavior of this supervisor in the past. Subsequent to the incident with Mr. Burton, one employee summoned the courage to write the following:
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“To whom it may concern:
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“I, Vyonnie Garbutt, can attest to the fact that Mr. Sylvester Burton is a respectable, hardworking carrier at Rimpau Station. He always treats everyone with respect and carries himself in a professional manner.
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“I would also like to attest to the fact that I have personally witnessed Carrier Supervisor Juanita Hamblet unprofessionalism and lack of dignity and respect for several employees at Rimpau Station. These employees include window clerks, distribution clerks, carriers, custodians, TE’s and PTF carriers. Some of these employees I personally witnessed include Marcus Smith (Carrier), Antoine Denson (Carrier), Charmaine Hepburn (Clerk), Ms. Franklin (TE), Mr. Sonny (Custodian), Ms. Joi (PTF),Vyonnie Garbutt (Clerk), Sylvester Burton (Carrier).
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“Supervisor Juanita Hamblett has been in combustive verbal altercations on the workfloor too many times. She creates an extremely hostile work environment for Rimpau Station.”
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Unfortunately, this sort of behavior is far from an aberration by far too many postal managers and supervisors. In fact, it’s become protocol. Postal management routinely use threats, aggressive behavior, and intimidation to get employees to work off the clock without pay. So when the postal employees refer to the postal service as “the plantation” they’re not speaking figuratively - and the various agencies within the government such as the Office of Inspector General and the EEOC, who are charged with protecting employee rights, are at best, indifferent to employee abuse, and at worst, in collusion with the agency to protect its impunity from repercussions. Thus, poor and middle-class workers have but one recourse, to address their plight as a political issue.
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As a United States government agency the U.S. Postal Service should be in the very forefront of the fight to protect employee rights, yet, in the Equal Employment Opportunity mediation initiated by Mr. Burton on this matter, instead of the postal service bending over backwards to correct what is clearly a toxic work environment, the agency went into damage control. The postal service didn’t even require Supervisor Hamblet to attend the mediation. Instead, they had an attorney, Kristi Ashman, come in her place to try to negotiate the issue away.
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Mr. Burton indicated that during the "mediation" he felt like he was trapped alone in a den full of jackals, and essentially he was. He was one worker trying to fight for his rights against the full weight of the federal government. He was alone in the room with his manager, his area manager, a post office attorney, a mediator who improperly urged him to accept the postal service's "lame resolution," and a union representative who the postal service's attorney pulled out the room to talk to out of Mr. Burton's earshot. So initially he signed the agreement as a result of feeling like an elephant was sitting on his chest. But to his credit, he came to his senses and rescinded the agreement within the remaining three-day time limit. In addition, the participants are sworn to secrecy regarding what takes place in the mediation, which is also slanted against the interest of the worker.
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The United States Postal Service is a microcosm of America as a whole, and the above situation is a perfect metaphor for the gross assault on poor and middle-class workers in this country as a whole.
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The working conditions created by the inept and irresponsible managers within the postal service is not only un-American, but creates a serious danger to the unsuspecting public at large. The reckless and self-serving irresponsibility of bonus-seeking postal managers constitute nothing less than a United States government agency sending ticking time bombs to every business and home in America six days a week. Dr. Stephen Musacco, an organizational psychologist, a therapist with thirty years experience in the postal service, and the author of "Beyond Going Postal,” says the following:
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“Prior to my retirement from the USPS, at a former district I worked for, there were three suicides within a two year period that I concluded were contributed to in significant part by how these employees were treated in the workplace. The third employee, a city letter carrier, fatally shot himself in a postal jeep and left a letter stating that he could no longer take the job. The night before he committed suicide he told his wife he did not know if he would be able to handle his job anymore. How do I know? His wife told me this one day after his suicide. He was one of the best employees in the office. The District Manager and I interviewed his coworkers after his death, and they stated he would urinate in a bottle while on delivery route for fear he would not meet an artificial deadline set by postal management. During the interviews, one of the postal supervisors told the District Manager and me that the day before the suicide she gave a letter to all the city letter carriers in the station, noting that any future over time used for their routes would be considered unacceptable performance. The suicide at the Gastonia postal facility was the second since December 2005.
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“Many people have asked: Why is there so much stress and workplace tragedies in the U.S. Postal Service? The answer to these questions is because the postal culture embraces and reflects core values that center on achieving bottom-line results with little or no regard for employee participation, respect, dignity, or fairness. Additionally, there is little or no accountability for the actions of top management in the Postal Service. Many postal facilities consequently have toxic work environments, and they can be a catalyst or trigger for serious acts of workplace violence, including homicide and suicide. The associated rewards system for behavior consistent with the postal culture core values, moreover, enables systemic organizational and individual bullying of employees at all levels of the organization.”
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One of the criticisms of the "Occupy" movement is that it doesn't seem to have a well defined objective. But in defense of the movement, it is commendable that it's not allowing itself to be co-opted by any particular political party or group. One way to resolve that conflict is for the movement to simply target instances of glaring middle-class abuse and focus its energies on addressing those issues one at a time, and there's no better target for beginning that process than the United States Postal Service, for several reasons.
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First, there is not a more flagrant example of middle-class abuse anywhere in the world than the way the U.S. Postal Service treats its employees right here in the United States. Secondly, the postal service is the largest civilian employer in the United States after Wal-Mart, so that alone makes it directly representative of the way middle-class workers are being abused as a whole in this country. And finally, the postal service also highlights the fact the U.S. government has now embraced the corporatist philosophy of profits over people, which, by definition, is blatantly un-American.
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We also have to confront the hypocrisy of our government. Again, in a June 9, 2009 speech in Cairo, President Obama told the people of Egypt, “ But I do have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn't steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose. Those are not just American ideas, they are human rights, and that is why we will support them everywhere.” . Thus, during this election season we need to confront our president with the fact that he seems to be preaching a much better sermon than he's prepared to live. We want to believe in him, but facts don't lie. The following fact is a case in point:
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If we can sacrifice the lives of our young people to bring justice to others around the world, certainly the president can make a simple phone call to bring justice here at home to the families and former comrades of those who are putting their lives on the line. After all, veterans are postal workers too.
President Obama: Respect workers’ Rights - Emancipate United States Postal Workers PART I
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In a June 9, 2009 speech in Cairo, President Obama told the people of Egypt, “ But I do have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn't steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose. Those are not just American ideas, they are human rights, and that is why we will support them everywhere.”
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That was powerful and soaring rhetoric, but talk is cheap. If president Obama is truly concerned about improving the conditions of the poor and middle class, he should start by addressing the gross abuses of same by his very own United States Postal Service. The postal service is the second largest employer of middle-class workers in the United States, yet, in spite of what President Obama pledged to the Egyptian people above, the conditions under which postal employees are forced to exist are just as unjust and emotionally brutal as on any plantation. I recently received the following letter from a Los Angeles letter carrier:
. .“My name is Sylvester Burton. I’ve been a postal carrier of ten years, and I work out of the Rimpau Station here in Los Angeles. On August 13, 2011, while out on my route I noticed that I had accidently left some of my mail back at the station, which is a common thing carriers do every now and then due to the pressure that management puts us to get us out of the station on time. So I called back to see if the mail left behind was still there. I was going to go back and get it, then charge the travel time there and back against my 30 minute lunch. But I was informed that Juanita Hamblet, my supervisor, was on her way to bring it to me. So I move to the next block and resume delivery so I wouldn’t have to waste time sitting waiting. . “A short time later Ms. Hamblet pulled up on the opposite side of the corner from where I had parked. Then in a volatile, agitated, loud tone she said, ‘Why are you just realizing you left this mail behind? And why didn’t you call back?’ To which, I told her that I had just reached the part of the route where the mail was missing. I also explained to her that did call. She then said, ‘I'm going to do a street observation!’ I didn’t have any problem with that, so I just got the mail from the back of the vehicle and resumed delivery. . “At 12:02 p.m. I drove to Subway for lunch and finished at 12:32 p.m. I start delivery at 1297 Cochran and finished that swing at 12:52 p.m. Then just after I got into my vehicle Ms. Hamblet pulled up and walks across the street toward my vehicle, and shouting in a very loud voice. ‘Where were you for the last 50 minutes?’ I explained to her that I had gone to lunch for 30 minutes and delivered mail for 18 minutes. I then asked her, very politely, to tone her voice down and stop harassing me. . “She then walked up to me, her hand in my face and said, ‘I CAN HARASS YOUR ASS AS MUCH AS I WANT, AND I WILL CONTINUE TO HARRASS YOUR ASS. I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOU BURTON - I THINK YOUR ASS IS GAY. TAKE YOUR ASS BACK TO THE STATION, I’M GONNA CALL THE POSTAL POLICE ON YOUR ASS!’ . “So I pulled about 8 feet away from her and parked, wondering if I should follow this woman’s instructions or ignore her and finish delivering mail. Then she walked up to me again, and said, ‘I SAID TAKE YOUR ASS BACK TO THE STATION! THAT’S A DIRECT ORDER!’ . When we got back to the station she ran into Mrs. Stanley’s office and told the manager that I called her a bitch, I threatened her, and that I almost ran over her. She also said that I was a coward and she was intimidated by my presence.
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Customer Statement
Atten: Miss Stanley, Station Manager To Whom It May Concern:
“My name is Elizabeth Crawford. I along with my wife Michelle Lo, own 1293-1295 S. Cochran. Avenue, Los Angeles, Ca 90019. On August 13, 2011 we were landscaping our front yard and witnessed an altercation between our mail carrier, Sylvester Burton and a woman whom I later learned was Juanita, his supervisor.
“At first I only heard a woman (Juanita) shouting and cursing. Since my back was to them I did not see who was yelling. Then I saw our letter carrier Mr. Burton drive by in his mail truck and pull over to the curb just past our driveway. A black woman raced over to the now parked mail truck cursing and shouting at Mr. Burton saying “you tried to run me over” and that she was going to “call the police”. As I watched I became very very alarmed because I could not tell at first from the casual attire she was clothed in that she was a postal employee. All I could see was an extremely unhinged woman going ballistic and attacking our mailman. I watched Juanita as she reached inside the mail truck and shook her hand in Mr. Burton’s face as she shouted ‘I don’t give a fuck about you and by the way I think your ass is GAY!’ Then she shouted ‘you take your ass back to the station right now…this is MYROUTE MY ROUTE…and you take your ass back to the station right now...’ She then shouted ‘I’m calling the postal police on your ass you take your ass back to the station right now.’
“Mr. Burton drove away in the mail truck. I don’t know what Mr. Burton was saying in response to all this as he NEVER raised his voice or shouted back during the entire episode.
“My entire family including my seven year-old niece had to witness this entirely unprofessional vulgar outburst. The cursing and swearing peppered with the f-word and the homophobic remarks was nothing less than shocking and completely inappropriate. I was extremely offended by her homophobic remarks and I am myself gay, not to mention the cursing and swearing in front of our child.
“Don’t know and I really don’t care what prompted Juanita’s tirade. I was shocked to see someone in a so-called “supervisory position” treating someone who works for her so brutally. Needless to say law in the state of California the law prohibits the attack on Mr. Burton based on his sexual identification in the workplace! You should take note of this.
“You need to DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS WOMAN. While representing the USPS no one should be able to behave that badly and make that big of a scene in public plus publicly attacking a subordinates sexual orientation and be allowed to keep their job. “If Mr. Burton sues for harassment I will gladly be a witness on his behalf.”
Signed,
M. Elizabeth J. Crawford
Employee Statement Regarding Supervisor
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Postal Service Response
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In other words, we spoke to her - but we can't tell you what we said - now, go away. The fact is, the postal service doesn't see this sort of thing as a problem. Instead of viewing this as not only unprofessional behavior, but a serious civil rights issue that needs immediate attention, the postal service views it as business as usual. The only reason it's being addressed at all is because this particular employee is making such a big fuss over it that it needs to be managed just to keep his mouth shut.
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Clear evidence of that is the fact that the above letter to Mr. Burton came from the manager of Human Resources. If the postal service thought the matter required corrective action, Mr. Burton would have been contacted by the manager of Labor Relations. He's the one who handles corrective action, but Labor Relations claims that the matter hadn't even been brought to their attention. That's hard to believe since it was brought to the attention of the union. So what's going on here? How could the union and Human Resources know about a matter as serious as this, but not Labor Relations?
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And what happened to the supervisor's claim that she'd been threatened by Mr. Burton, that he tried to run over her, and she felt intimidated by his presence? Those allegations seemed to have simply evaporated once it was found that there were witnesses to the incident.
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Over the past two years we've written over twenty articles on the postal service's abusive tactics against it's employees, because we've long since recognized that the United States Postal Service is a microcosm of the United States as a whole, and its employees represent a change in our government's attitude towards poor and middle-class Americans as a whole.
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You see, the postal service doesn't merely treat its employees with disdain, it also has little respect for its customers - that is, unless the customer has wealth and power. But if you happen to be poor or middle class, they'll bat you away like a fly. So this is far from simply a labor issue. It's a political issue that has a direct impact on ALL 99ers, so it needs to be embraced by the "Occupy Movement," and shoved directly in Obama's face during this political season.
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This is the perfect issue to see exactly where President Obama really stands with respect to the poor and middle class in this country. Since the postal service is a United States government agency, Obama doesn't need congress to bring its abuses to an end. He could bring it to an end with a phone call during lunch. So the question is, why is he allowing this employee abuse to go on? After all, the Postmaster General is merely an overseer. The President of the United States is the plantation master.
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So we should all follow this case and the many others like it. They represent the perfect barometer for measuring the decline of the American middle class. They also clearly demonstrate that the institutions that the American people once depended upon to defend their interests are now nothing more than collapsible, movie-set backdrops, designed to give Americans the illusion of justice. But don't take my word for it, try suing a major corporation. You'll find in very short order that while justice may be blind, it's only blind to the abuse of the poor and middle class. It has 20/20 vision when it comes to protecting the interest of the rich.
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So if we want this to remain America, we've got to turn this around - if it's not already too late.
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Doesn't the postal service claim they're suffering from a lack of business?
Now you see why, and you also see what our government thinks of 99ers.
We've got to get their attention. As the lady in the above video indicated, ALL government officials are OUR employees, not the reverse.
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And finally, how can we honor our veterans while abusing our postal workers? After all, veterans are postal workers too.
So don't preach us a sermon, live us one.
Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)
Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.
