The Boston Learning Center

I would like to dedicate this post to my Brothers and Sisters out there who have been stiffed by an employer in any way shape or form.

This is a very simplified version of events that have occurred as I do not want to be divulging too much information as I need to at this point.

That being said, dear readers, I would like to let you know that this author has been waiting to be paid by The Boston Learning Center via Sheldon Fischer and John Batarse since April, 2012 for $1,625. This may not seem like a lot of money, but it was during a time I was a District-Coordinator for them and I was a top level manager.

I started to work for them in January, 2012 and things were going well. I was able to get student's paired up with tutors and started right away.....well, by right away I mean in more than a month it took for the office in Boston to get their act together. Then once hiring decisions were made, and I got the ball rolling.....again after much waiting, books came much later on. Much after this we had a pay dispute, but I was paid, and I am here now waiting because they have issues getting the money they are owed, which really doesn't surprise me. I should have seen the warning signs from the beginning (I was told I might be on a sinking ship) but although I made this mistake it does mean I have learned a very valuable lesson.

See, what happened here was there simply were people put in place who could not manage a business if their lives depended on it. A quick Google search, which I should have done in the first place, would reveal that Mr. Fischer apparently couldn't have his credentials verified by groups at Harvard University (http://extensionstudent.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=1804) and Mr. Batarse was a General Manager at a Suzuki Dealership. Now, granted being a GM at a car dealership is huge, the fact I was in the auto industry and see he was a Suzuki dealer just makes the whole situation laughable at best.

Text messages, e-mails, phone calls by me and John Batarse only wound up in circles. He would ask me for information, I would give it to him with no response thereafter. I try to call or text message and only when I act like a bill collector do I get his attention. I've since filed a complaint with the MA Attorney General which is doing something but not fast enough.

I'm now being accused of harassment and told to get my lawyer to talk to them. I don't have a lawyer because you see folks, I've learned how to deal with people on my own and I don't need a lawyer to get my point across.

Lesson learned, don't mess with a Labour Activist, ever.

The Politics of Austerity

Just when you think that it can't get any worse, it does.

Spain's Conservative Government just announced that as part of its agreement with the European Union (or at least the northerners, let's cut the crap and get to it) that austerity measures on consumption taxes will be imposed to offset the direct lending of assets to the ailing banks.

Yeah, you read that right, money not going directly to help the people of Spain will be paid for by the people of Spain. You can't make this up. We though issues in Greece were bad, this is so much worse.

Granted Pensions won't be touched, among a few other things, but the fact remains that the working people of Spain have to be put on the hook for the mistakes the banks made by the value added tax going from 17% to 21%. It should be noted that the Prime Minister campaigned on a promise to not raise this tax at all while he's in office.

This makes me angry on so many new levels. First of all, not that I support austerity at all, but given the fact the Government of Spain admitted its only their banking system that is ailing and not anything the people themselves could somehow be blamed for, why aren't the banks paying for this bailout on their own? Why are they not being charged a surcharge tax on their transactions to pay for their own survival? I don't care what answer someone may have to defend the banks because this question is indefensible, in my opinion.

Second, once people get jobs, how do you expect a simple 3% raise in the consumption tax to pay for this bailout? The explanation could quite possibly be that once the banks start lending (and making a shitload of money) people will get their jobs back (24% unemployment rate, higher among the Youth) and start spending money again. I wonder how many people are initially going to want to do away with 24% of their disposable cash on a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Oh yeah, this also covers public transit, so I wonder how many trips people will continue to take on the transit system putting other jobs in jeopardy and/or purchase a car and the other ancillary items such as gas and maintenance that the tax will be charged on?

I say this is all initial, but priorities will change and unless wages keep up I don't see how their economy will be sustainable over the long-term. It's quite possible, but highly unlikely given past examples around the world, that Spain's unemployment will stabilize, but everything is forever changed.

Why is no one speaking up? Where is the Labour Movement putting more people in the streets than there are already? Why is no one outraged about this?!?!?! Come on people, this is reality, as MSNBC put it, we still can change this!!!

The Right to Strike in Peril?

A good friend of mine just today posted an article in "Canadian Dimension" about the whether the right to strike and collective action still exists at the Federal level of industries regulated by the Federal Government of Canada.

Brad Walchuk, an expert on Labour History and current PhD Candidate at York University, describes in great detail how the Harper government has forced workers to accept their current position and try to rid them of their rights as workers and citizens of Canada. Without any hesitation, the Conservative government has interfered in the Collective Bargaining process enjoyed in free societies in an effort to keep the Labour Movement at bay. Although Back-To-Work Legislation is not new, Walchuck makes clear mention that this is usually only done after clear contemplation by governments and as a last ditch effort, not an automatic response to a dispute.

We are seeing this here in the United States as well, particularly in Wisconsin and Ohio where state governments have been, or are in the process of, wiping out the Collective Bargaining process all together. Governor Walker in Wisconsin may have recently won his recall election but it does not mean workers and other citizens will support him later on in his re-election campaign, and people in Ohio are going to be seeing a possible referendum on the matter.

This attack on workers needs to stop and respect for the bargaining process must come back. We all want productive industries and societies but it will not happen if workers keep being attacked, especially in free countries.

For full text of Brad's article, go to http://canadiandimension.com/articles/4749/

The Politics of Attrition, Bullying, and Brock University

I know I said I was going to talk about space exploration in the next few articles, but in the mean time while I research this more there is a very emotional and substantive topic I would like to discuss with all of you.

So, I'm not going to hold back punches on this because this is my blog and I will say what I want on this.

To the administration at Brock University: Go to Hell
To my Brothers and Sisters at CUPE Local 4207: Stay Strong, and I stand in Solidarity with all of you.

Brock University, as I have come to learn from my time there, is an institution rooted in making the lives of students, faculty and all other workers on campus a living nightmare. The strong-arm tactics of the University have gotten to the point where they are willing to break the laws of the Province of Ontario because they simply believe that they are better than everyone else.

Brock is taking advantage of 38 ESL Instructors, and the other unions on campus are not letting them get away with it.

Brock:

1) Refuses to honor its agreements made with employees at the University
2) Refuses to come back to the table, as CUPE 4207 just offered today, with the Provincial Mediator to work things out
3) Refuses to acknowledge the legitimate claims of workers on campus of harassment, hostile work conditions, contracting out, and other issues as addressed in the collective agreements they made between the them and the labour unions on campus.

I am asking for all of my readers to please support these workers. I once was part of their ranks, and I will always have their side because I know too well the living hell they are in right now. If you would like to know how to help them please get in touch with me at jwhalen4207@gmail.com

Space: Still a Final Frontier?

I was asked recently by a reader to look into space exploration. The idea intrigued me, given that the Obama administration cut off NASA domestic manned space missions is space exploration and investment still a good idea?

The next few articles I write will explore this idea. My initial thought is that while manned space missions could be seen as a National Security issue by not having domestic missions is the whole idea of looking into space and what how we can exploit the universe still a viable possibility?

Many companies provide consulting services and private project works with the US government and governments around the world to assist in exploration efforts. Thousands are employed in this capacity to figure out new and better ways to use materials and especially create machines that produce their own energy to function. Many of these new technological advances have made their way into products we all use, especially cars and our own energy productions systems.

Leave your comments below and let me know your thoughts. Like in previous articles, I want to have participation and include everyone in conversations I start here.

Keystone XL

In any examination of an economy, energy is a sector that is part of it's "main heights." One of the reasons many have called for nationalization of the sector.

But I like to think of energy in a completely different view. Knowing the fact we need energy to support ourselves there needs to not only be a more comprehensive movement away from oil, but a more robust examination of what "Green" technology will really do for Labour and how that affects all of us and what can be done to have less dependance on all materials that harm our environment(s).

I chose to talk about the Keystone XL pipeline for one reason in particular: this pipeline, and the issues surrounding it, exemplify all of what I have mentioned above.

The Tar Sands of Canada, mostly located in the Province of Alberta, are a source of crude for all of the western hemisphere and the rest of the world as well. The nice thing about the tar sands is that drilling is not a main method of extraction, rather crude, once filtered out, is literally in the soil itself and is easy to obtain. The Tar Sands have brought enormous prosperity to Alberta and many Canadians travel to work there for the dream of striking it rich even in the lowliest of jobs at the sites.

The downsides outweigh the benefits to the production of crude. Water systems have been polluted, some to the point where life is no longer sustainable; Aboriginals (Native Americans here in the US), have had their lands destroyed; Alberta itself has become so expensive to live in that even with a $80,000 salary it is hard to make ends meet if you are the only paycheck in your household; and among other things, the price of oil in Canada, as in the US, has risen rather than fallen.

So to those who say "DRILL!!" its not exactly working, anywhere, to get the price of oil down again because the speculators will still control what we all pay.

On the flipside, Labour Unions, in particular, and most other critics argue for the jobs the pipeline will create and sustain over a long period of time. Not a bad argument, but what is the reality in those numbers?

MSNBC, among others, have pointed out that over the long term, the jobs really won't matter because the costs, numerical and otherwise, outweigh the benefits. Nevermind that the pipeline will just cause more environmental disruption and a high potential of environmental damage in that same time period. In the interest of keeping this short, please follow the link to read the evidence I mention in this paragraph.

"Green" technology creates more labour issues on its own and there is no real sense that being "eco-friendly" all the time will solve our labour and environmental issues over the use of energy.

There are those in the scientific world who are experimenting with atomic energy down to the smallest of particles to find ways to make energy without disrupting our environment on a massive scale. Maybe paying more attention to these folks and giving them more support will lend a way to get us out of this mess generations before us got us into that we are now addicted to.

In my own conclusion, for now at least, investment in alternative sources of energy needs to be invested in more than it is now, we need to get off oil because as far as I'm concerned, I'm tired of feeling guilty everytime I turn up my thermostat, light my stove up, or get in my car. There needs to be a better way,

Things You Really Need to Think About

I would like you, my fellow readers, to stop for a minute and think about a few things, in light of Super Tuesday coming up and, especially if you haven't voted yet or in a long time, the following:

~What are important things you hold onto?

~What do you believe in for yourself, your fellow man/woman, and for society at large? (If you haven't thought about that, it might be a good time to do so).

~ Who else, in the current candidate pools for office (President, Congress, Senate, down to your local council) most reflect your answers to the above?

I ask these questions, that you should answer yourselves for one very good reason. Tonight, in Arizona and Michigan, there are four men asking to be their party's nominee for President. One of whom scares the poop right out me, and that would be Rick Santorum.

My beliefs aside, please think about this. Should our current President be unseated, one of these four men will take his spot in the White House, and we will have four, possibly eight, years of this person.

Those who read this blog pretty much know where I would like the election to head, and generally all elections anywhere.

But think about it, what do you want your world to look like and do any of the choices match? If not, anyone close enough? Or how about something novel, get involved yourself, like I do on my local Planning Board.

Should Greece Leave the Euro?

The Economist Magazine has posed the question, or very real possibility depending on how you read into it, of Greece leaving the Euro. Should it happen?

If Greece leaves, it will gain its sovereignty back and be able to control its own destiny, but its currency won't be worth much because of the debt it leaves to themselves and creditor countries. On the other hand, if Greece stays, and is able to pick itself back up, it just might be good for the world economy.

Either way the Greek people will probably lose. You don't austere yourselves back to ancient Rome (actually, not fair, the economy was good then) and hope to come out back on top later on as if nothing happened. You're living in a fantasy world if you believe that's the case.

The Greeks have already given into such heinous demands placed on them by the whole of Europe that, in the end, not much will matter. Exports can rise but the price of goods will probably not match the needs of the economy altogether.

The Economist argues they should leave the eurozone, but will it really matter in the end?

The Role of Labour

Over the weekend I've been catching up with news on the Labour wire and been seeing the same old story; employers engaging in hostile workplace practices, then blaming it on the workers, cry that they have no money and once their workers strike to demand better conditions the employer magically comes up with the cash t pay for SCABS and private investigators to spy on their employees.

Same is true in education. Right now, in Connecticut, there is a move in education reform headed up by Governor Malloy to trend towards Charter Schools in order punish not some, but all teachers, on the public's payroll and instill a system headed up by his cronies and their friends in the vetting process.

Why does this matter? Because it very easily happen to you. Let me explain.

In our first example, I'm going to cite the Lincoln County Humane Society in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Workers there know that budgets are generally tight when it comes to helping our animal friends, yet as a publicy funded organization, they are asking for the employer to reconsider a 15% wage cut! Think about what you make then what would happen if your paycheck was cut by 15%, that's the amount of FICA out of a paycheck in the USA for some people.

As part of the bargaining process, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 1287 is arguing the idea that the Human Society can't afford Health Benefits, among other things, and that the Union makes to many demands on them while they always operate in a deficit.

Yet, according to sources, there is a credible rumour that the employer is going to bus in SCABS and hiring a Private Investigator to spy on the picket lines. This costs a considerable amount of money, money a organization in dire straights can't afford. Volunteers and Staff continually cross the picket line in pure disrespect for their fellow workers at the same time.

Back here in the USA, Governor Malloy is, among other things, attacking those who educate our children by  subjecting them to political harassment.

As reported by fellow blogger Jonathan Pelto, Connecticut's teachers and their bargaining unit are unfairly being depicted as the sole reason the education system is unfair and inequitable. Nevermind the fact that cuts to school budgets continually get made, teachers and support staff have been asked to give up parts of their contract to "take one for the team" (which they did, and so did the Universities as well) and teachers are actually considering doing away with their tenure system, a system designed to retain teachers for their careers.

The last part most people have agreed, in general, needs to change, but when your class sizes are 30-40 students at any given time, what else does the public want from you except your soul?

This attack on our Labour force, those who did not cause the crisis we are in, will be a top topic of mine over the life of this blog. Trains will not run on time and jobs will not be good paying and healthy unless more of the working class rises up by some means to protest the unjust actions of our leaders.

If you would like information on where to send donations to help the humane society workers and/or other labour conflicts I post about please let me know in the comments section.

Happiness Indicators and the Economy

Several Think Tanks, including the CATO Institute, have over the past few years began to explore "Happiness," what exactly it is, what makes people happy, what it does for our health and how it affects the world economy.

The Economist Magazine has come out with a more recent snapshot of Happiness in the world and, most specifically, how it reflects the world economy. Their realization is that despite the current economic doom and gloom, people are generally much happier individuals in the poorest nations of the world and happiness takes a fall onward.

The Economist gives a few explanations on how to read their findings, such as what makes people happy in one part of the world does not necessarily ring true elsewhere (being a self-reported survey method of research) and that those who live in "developing nations" do not generally share the same level of pessimism those of us rich folks have when the DOW plunges 2 points.

The article does not go into much more detail than to report the findings and allow you to think things over for yourself. My initial reaction was that no matter how a person decides to look at happiness and what it means to them, happiness is happiness and that's a good thing. If someone is in a good mood over a period of time they are generally more likely to spend, participate more in the economy and local communities and encourage others to do the same.

Look around your community, what would you find are indicators of happiness, in fact what makes you happy? I would love to know, leave your comments below and I'll compile them and tell you all at a later date how your responses rack up to those elites with the PhDs and their findings.

Are Most Markets Saturated?

I was going to take the rest of the day to sit back, read the news, catch up on a few things, and clear my head before posting again, but then I came across this article from MSNBC.com about start-up airlines. Yes, I had the same thought, "they do exist?!?!" One could almost wonder if they saw an alien or something.

http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/23/10469971-startup-airlines-face-uphill-battle-to-get-off-ground

My thought on this is that as much as airlines are fantastic, as other transportation modes, of most importance for our concerns should be placed on public transit and less emphasis on private modes of transport.

On the private end of this Robert Mann of R.W. Mann & Co. brings up this point and he said it better than I could:

The market periodically sees new entrants who truly believe they have a better mousetrap, but the ability to differentiate yourself against the incumbent airlines is very difficult.

 With so many players in the field, is it still possible to start up and airline and survive? There are routes in this country, and elsewhere, to remote locations that would prove hard or even inaccessible at best to get to especially in an emergency. State and Federal agencies know this and already use private aircraft to get to these types of areas. Then again, if places such as those are so remote why would anyone else consider a market demand for those types of airlines?

Then again, places such as Worcester Airport, a small regional airport in Massachusetts, could use the potential traffic that could result from such ventures. Currently, one small airline runs out of there to Orlando, FL quite often and is a cheaper alternative to flying out of Bradley International in Connecticut or Logan in Boston. There are routes available most airlines don't fly to and there seems to be interest in locales with small airports people would like to fly to without the need to charter a jet.

But my argument for public transit still reigns true for me. The economic and environmental cost of private transportation is profound and evidence exists to suggest that public transit, and public services in general are cheaper in the long run and being run publicly, the chance of waste and environmental harm are more closely observed and regulated to make sure that the chances of those things happening is lessened by a considerable extent.

So Sean Combs ("P. Diddy) came out with this announcement yesterday (or the day before, I'm not completely sure). Up to 88,000 views already, it seems the artist and businessman seems to be able to keep a sure following.

Combs is starting, with the first provider being Comcast, "Revolt TV", essentially a response to the demise I think of as the original MTV and in another part inspiration from people such as Oprah who have started their own channels as well.

Is this another experiment in degrading popular culture? I'm not entirely sure. Combs is quite successful in his own right in music and in the clothing industries; exploring new options is nothing new for him.

His political views as well are possibly another driver for his need to start his own channel. Combs has been on the offensive when it comes to voting drives and getting out the vote (recall his "Vote or Die" campaign).

Will his venture expand? We'll have to see

Getting Started, at least here anyway

This looks, and sounds, totally redundant, yet it seems everyone these days is writing a blog or four for the simple task of making themselves heard, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

I've started this blog with the following intentions and goals in mind:

1) Envision and write about an ideal world I think most of us want
2) Enable others who want to share their blog posts or ideas on a platform such as this

Am I looking to create a movement? Not really, I already belong to the Labor Movement and the Student Movement but if this results in something, such as destroying the "Tea Party", then that might bring me some happiness :-)

Give me a little time, I'll be posting a few more things here today and throughout the life of this blog. If anyone wishes to participate let me know, you are more than welcome.