Words fail me

...but not for long.
I find it hard to believe that our country has has slid so far back into the mire of history that some actually celebrate the fact that another state has passed 'right to work' legislation. What are they thinking? The Governor of Michigan assures the voters that this will make the state more competitive. Competitive? Competitive with China, South Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi. Not to mention Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana. And do they really believe that by ridding themselves of the evil 'Union' that someone will come along and invest in a new auto plant? And do they really want to become like South Carolina  where the state is famous for the number of Waffle Houses it has and the fact that they are also the fireworks and billboard capitol of the world? Or like Georgia? No, I won't say it...I don't want to go there. Arkansas and Mississippi are like the first two. Poor and becoming poorer. Just look at the data comparing the 'right to work' states with the sane states.

The employee owned company that I retired from was all union and quite proud of that fact. Why? Because we were allowed to bid and secure the largest construction projects. Even where non-union firms were allowed to compete, we secured the projects because of the skill of our workers. Would you trust a non-union firm to build a $2 billion dollar microchip foundry? Even when our bid price was higher, we got the job because we had trained union workers. How about a high rise building put together by non-union iron workers? I don't think so! The phrase 'You get what you pay for' is always true except in the case of politicians.

From my vantage point of age, 72 years, I can clearly see the turning point in our countries economy and that was when reagan gave the green light to union bashing when he destroyed the Air Controllers union. From that point on, as unions lost their strength, we lost our economy. Those union wages were buying homes and car and tv's and boats and everything else that was driving our economy. Slowly but surely, my union, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, lost it's influence in the construction marketplace and homes were the first to go 'non-union' and built by less than qualified carpenters. Don't like the quality of your new house? Blame reagan. But, then again, you may have come to accept that quality of workmanship and think it's just dandy.

Are there corrupt union officials? You bet! I've met my share. How about corrupt politicians? Have you ever seen any of those?The truth is, we get those corrupt officials and pols because we deserve them. We don't pay attention and we vote emotionally and not rationally. We complain about those terrible union contracts that put us on the hook for millions, yet we seem to forget that it takes two signatures to create a contract. What did the city, county or state official get ($$$) to sign the contract? We'll never know and still we blame the unions for the terms of the contract. Some people say that the governing office was over a barrel and had to sign. Not true; no one signs under pressure unless they've lost their moral compass.

It's open season on unions now and the economy will react. As people lose their union jobs they will demonstrate their anger and their will be violence. And the so called 'union' cops won't hesitate to strike a brother union member in the name of law and order. The First Amendment has been broken so many times that it really won't help. Sad times indeed.

More universes...universii

I read Wally's great post on universes and lo and behold, two hours later I found a Tumbler post that took me to a TED talk on universes, or universii?

Here's the link to that talk...
TED

The Sun is out

The storm is over, though we will see occasional rain for the next few days. Last night, the rain woke me up around 2 and I walked around the house, looking out the windows to see if I could see anything dangerous happening. Nothing, just lots of heavy rain and fierce wind. I was up again at 4:30 and although my bedside clock was flashing, I found that all the others were doing just fine. And still the rain and wind continued. I had built a barrier at our patio door as the rain had threatened it a few days ago; in the dark it was impossible to see if the water was coming close. The carpet was dry so I figured I shouldn't worry for awhile.Then, about 7, the clouds opened up. What a racket! In five minutes it was over and we were back to a steady drizzle. Now, the sun has made it beautiful again.

Earlier in the morning I read an email from my sister and she included a link to a Photobucket site with old images of life in the South Bay in Southern California. Incredibly, I recognized a lot of the very old photos. They are now downloaded and filed away...as they should be. But , how did I become so old?

With the election over, I can return to writing posts like this one. Ah!