United States | News & Politics
- https:// www.reuters.com /business/aerospace-defense/boeing-strike-bosses-bruised-blindsided-brink-crisis-2024-09-16/
SEATTLE, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Boeing bosses are staring down the barrel. The twists and turns of the past week paint a picture of managers badly wrong-footed by the depth of fury among workers who tossed out a 25% pay increase deal and launched strike action. "They probably didn't think that we had enough people for the strike," Kushal Varma, a Boeing mechanic, told Reuters. "But this is a movement of people who are willing to put their livelihoods on the line to get what's fair." With little time to regroup, and pressure mounting, management enters a fresh week of talks to contain the crisis at the $97 billion U.S. aerospace champion (BA.N) , opens new tab. A week ago, Boeing executives believed they'd done enough to secure the pay deal with around 33,000 workers in Washington state, the heart of the company's global manufacturing operations, according to two people directly involved in the talks that have played out at Seattle's upscale Westin hotel. The company's initial pay increase offer had been about 12%, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential and unreported details about the horse-trading, though that number gradually crept up during the weeks of negotiations. But in an 11th-hour concession on Saturday, Sept. 7 to clinch the support of union leader Jon Holden and seal what they expected to be a swift resolution to the dispute, Boeing executives hiked the offer significantly to 25% and pledged to build the company's next commercial jet in the state, the people added. "Much of it came together in the last four or five hours," Holden told Reuters after the tentative agreement was announced on Sept. 8, adding that he and Boeing management had worked until "the wee hours". Boeing and the union hailed the deal as "historic" because of the record headline wage hike for the company and the first-of-its-kind plane commitment. It was a spectacular failure. Three days later, 94% of members of Holden's International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) rejected the offer and 96% voted to strike. Reuters interviews with more than 20 people, including Boeing officials, union leaders and factory workers, show how badly the U.S. aerospace champion underestimated the scale of the resentment felt by workers over cost-of-living pressures and pay agreements of previous years. Boeing and the IAM declined to comment for this article. The details of the deal's collapse also reveal how trust between Boeing and union leadership has eroded, complicating talks due to resume in coming days. Two days after Boeing announced its offer, as union member frustration seeped into the media, commercial planes chief Stephanie Pope wrote an open letter to workers, saying the company had held nothing back and this was the best deal they would get. CEO Kelly Ortberg followed up with an open letter the next day, telling workers that voting against the deal would send them down a path "where no one wins". Rather than rallying the troops, the letters backfired, according to four workers who said many union members saw them as ultimatums. "I thought they were unprofessional and threatening," said Josh King, a quality control inspector at a Boeing Seattle factory. Boeing finance chief Brian West acknowledged the disconnect with staff. "We had an unprecedented temporary agreement that was unanimously endorsed by union leadership. And over the last few days, it became very clear, loud and clear, with our union members that that offer didn't meet the mark," he told a Morgan Stanley conference at the beachside Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point, California on Friday. In a conversation with a small group of investors on the sidelines of the event, West added that while Boeing had focused on the future plane pledge, workers were more concerned about their current wallets, according to a person who was present and requested anonymity as the discussion was private. Reuters was unable to reach West for comment. The 25% general wage increase offered was in line with gains won by other sectors such as autoworkers. Nonetheless, many Boeing workers have struggled to make ends meet over the years; since the last full wage deal in 2008, factory wages have lagged inflation, while healthcare and living costs have leapt. UNION LEADER IN SPOTLIGHT Boeing, which dominates the global planemaking market with European rival Airbus (AIR.PA) , opens new tab, has been wrestling with production and safety crises since two deadly 737 MAX plane crashes in 2018 and 2019. The latest upheaval was sparked by a door panel flying off a near-new 737 MAX plane in midair in January, prompting the exit of former CEO Dave Calhoun and a 30% drop in the company's share price this year. As the new crunch labor talks loom, union chief Holden also finds himself under the microscope. On the Boeing side, boardroom trust in the IAM leader has been knocked by the reversal, which saw his members roundly reject a contract he negotiated and supported, according to the two people involved in the talks. His endorsement had appeared to be a much-needed win for Ortberg and Boeing, whose shares jumped almost 4% on Monday, Sept. 9 as investors cheered. Holden and Boeing chief negotiator Michael Fitzsimmons and their respective teams of about a dozen apiece had spent several weeks since July broadly discussing terms, the people said. In the last three weeks, the negotiations accelerated and intensified with the two teams moving into rooms at the Westin Hotel and holding talks several times a day, they added. Ortberg dropped in to the hotel on the evening of Saturday, Sept. 7 to confirm the details with Holden, according to the sources. The deal was finally agreed shortly after 2 a.m. and announced hours later. On the union side, Holden also faces opposition from within his ranks, with some hardline members furious at him for endorsing an offer that most workers opposed, opening a rift at a critical point in the talks, five IAM members told Reuters. "You know, you don't trust him. You put faith in the guy ... and then we pretty much feel like he's failed you," said Mike Toman, a striking worker protesting outside a factory making Boeing's best-selling 737 jet. It was the first time in three decades that the IAM's local leader had recommended accepting a contract, raising the ire of many workers. Posts on union social media channels described him as a "sellout" and called his negotiation "shameful". Two union organisers told Reuters the bulk of the workforce remained loyal to Holden. The lion's share of the blame is being placed at the feet of Boeing leaders past and present, 10 employees including union organisers and factory workers said. 'THAT WAS A FAKE OFFER' Many older Boeing workers have been deeply resentful since their defined-benefit pension was taken away a decade ago in exchange for Boeing keeping production in Washington state, while their standard of living has slowly deteriorated. Equity research firm Melius Research found median employee compensation for the aerospace and defense firms it monitors grew 12% between 2018 and 2023, while at Boeing it fell 6%. "While there were many important things in this offer, it didn't bridge the gap for 16 years," Holden said at a media briefing following the vote announcement. "Our members spoke loud and clear tonight." Other factory employees told Reuters they were furious about the removal of a performance bonus in the latest negotiations, which took a bite out of the headline 25% pay increase spread over four years. Workers were also suspicious about Boeing's commitment to build its next commercial jet in the region because it came with a clause: it was contingent on the plane programme being launched in the next four years, something that isn't guaranteed, the factory staff said. "That was a fake offer," said David Hu, a 35-year-old quality inspector. Boeing workers told Reuters that there was lingering anger about gains secured by former CEO Calhoun, who was re-elected to the board and received almost $33 million in 2023 compensation. Ortberg, brought in to replace Calhoun and restore faith in the planemaker after the panel blowout, has acknowledged that Boeing's planemaking heartland has been neglected. Unlike his most recent predecessors, Ortberg has bought a home in Seattle to be closer to the factory floor. Many union members said they were willing to give the new CEO a chance, raising hopes that he and Holden might be able to get a new deal agreed. "Mr Ortberg was in a tough position coming in," Holden said at a media briefing on Thursday. "It's hard to make up for 16 years," he added. "So this isn't necessarily a reflection on him."
- abc11.com Black man found dead against tree with rope around his neck in NC: 'Not a lynching,' sheriff says
The family of Javion Magee and people in Vance County want answers and transparency in his death investigation.
- www.dailykos.com Pigs Fly; George Will Endorses Harris
George Will has endorsed Kamala Harris for president. Watch out for flying pigs. The ultra-conservative, and baseball fan, comes to his decision reluctantly. He sees the need to dump Trump. His endorsement of Harris shows a clear lack of enthusiasm,...
- • 94%www.usatoday.com JD Vance ate my dog and Elon Musk ate my cat. Will Trump address this very real issue?
'Not long ago, billionaire Elon Musk ate my cat, Mr. Smushyface. Days later, Donald Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, ate my dog, Zoe.'
- www.cbsnews.com Alberto Gonzales, Bush's attorney general, endorses Kamala Harris, warning of Donald Trump's "threat to the rule of law"
Alberto Gonzales, a Republican who served as attorney general under George W. Bush, said he's supporting Kamala Harris.
- talkingpointsmemo.com How JD Vance And A Virulent Neo-Nazi Group Inflamed Tensions Over Migrants In Springfield
It was one of the most shocking and disturbing lines in the...
- • 97%www.nbcnews.com Colorado teen shot in the face after going to home to ask permission to take homecoming photos
A woman who lives at the home thought trespassers were on her property, authorities said. Her boyfriend was arrested in connection with the shooting.
A 17-year-old Colorado boy was shot in the face Tuesday after he and a friend went to a home to ask permission to take homecoming photos on the property.
The shooting happened around 4:15 p.m. at a home on Pleasant Park Road in Jefferson County, the sheriff's office said.
When deputies arrived, the 17-year-old was "bleeding heavily from his face, as a second juvenile applied pressure to his friend's wounds with a t-shirt," the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said in a news release Wednesday. The teen is recovering from his injuries.
Brent Metz, the boyfriend of a woman who lives at the home, was arrested in connection with the shooting.
He was booked on charges of first-degree assault, felony menacing, illegal discharge of a firearm, and reckless endangerment. It’s not clear if he has obtained an attorney.
The sheriff's office said the woman, who was not at the home, had called deputies before the shooting to report two trespassers on her property. She also called Metz, who drove over to the home and allegedly blocked the teen's car from leaving, according to NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver.
Metz then got out of his vehicle and allegedly fired one round through the windshield of the teen's car, the news station reported.
The 17-year-old told deputies that he and his friend went to the home because they wanted to take pictures there. He said they parked outside the gate, hopped the fence and walked up the driveway to look for the homeowner, the sheriff's office said in a news release.
When they could not find anyone at the residence, the boys "walked around the property trying to locate a homeowner" and then got back in their car, the sheriff's office said.
"They returned to their car and began writing a note to the homeowner, asking permission to use their property to take pictures," authorities said. "While they were doing this, a man they had never seen before pulled up next to them, exited the truck he was driving, and fired a round through the windshield, striking the 17-year-old driver in the face."
A sheriff's office spokesperson told KUSA that the teen's intent did not seem "malicious or criminal."
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by the news station, one of the teens said they heard Metz say, "Oh s---, my gun just went off," after the shooting. Metz tried to help the 17-year-old but his friend pushed him away, the affidavit says.
Metz, 38, is a council member for the town of Mountain View, according to KUSA. The town administrator declined to comment when contacted by NBC News on Thursday.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/03/28/brian-pritchard-georgia-illegal-voting/73135511007/
- www.thedailybeast.com Unhinged Elon Musk Offers to Impregnate Taylor Swift
The father-of-12 offered his unlikely insight into the presidential debate after Swift endorsed Harris.
- • 98%slate.com Harris Exposed How Easy Trump Is to Manipulate. Dictators Have Known This for a Long Time.
She homed in on a dangerous weakness.
- haitiantimes.com Haitian families in Ohio under attack as racist claims spread
Racist claims by right-wing Republicans about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, are giving way to physical attacks against Haitian families, some of whom are keeping their children from school today to protect them.
- • 98%www.rawstory.com 'Trump had a bad night': Fox News trashes ex-president after debate with Harris
Fox News personalities gave former President Donald Trump low marks following his Tuesday night debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.A panel on Fox News responded to Trump's performance just moments after the ABC News presidential debate concluded."Vice President Harris was clearly well-prepared...
- www.billboard.com Stevie Nicks Joins ‘My Friend’ Taylor Swift in Endorsing Kamala Harris as a ‘Childless Dog Lady’
Stevie Nicks joined Taylor Swift in endorsing Kamala Harris and praised the pop star's "eloquent" post about the Democratic candidate.
I haven't seen this discussed since the debate, and I'm curious what people think would happen.
(If you've seen this twice, I first posted it to a community that only allows links to news items, which rule I read only after creating the post. I removed that post)
The idea came from a post-debate discussion on NPR (National Public Radio), where one of the (professional) political commentators was asked if this was possible and they replied, briefly, that it would have to be done soon.
- From the analyst's response, and what I can find online (e.g., here) it seems that it's not too late for Trump to make this change. Vance would have to voluntarily step down, but I can't imagine him defying Trump if he was told to beat it.
- It's clear Trump isn't as enamored of Vance as he initially was.
- I think even hard-core conservatives would agree that Vance hasn't helped Trump's campaign, and (as the commentator pointed out) he's gone off-piste from Trump's talking points at times.
- Trump's core is voting for Trump; the running mate is a side show, and it's questionable how much Vance appeals to Trump's base. I believe Trump knows all of this, or at least believes it himself.
- Trump prides himself on firing people when he doesn't like the way things are going, and it would be in keeping character for him to make Vance a scapegoat for the polling reversal and his losing the debate.
Therefore, I think this is not just a purely hypothetical question, but a very real possibility. Trump is chaos at the best of times, and this would be an unsurprising action. Regardless of advice he gets from his handlers, he'll do what he feels like.
So my questions are: first, who's the most likely choice for a swap; and second, how do you think it'd impact the election?
- deadline.com Taylor Swift Endorses Kamala Harris For President Minutes After Debate
Taylor Swift will vote for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential campaign.
- • 94%www.independent.co.uk Don Jr confronted by restaurant owner who says he lost customers over Trump support
The restaurant owner purchased a digital billboard for Donald Trump in Minnesota, where Tim Walz is governor
- • 90%www.theatlantic.com Kamala Harris Broke Donald Trump
In their first face-to-face meeting, the Democratic nominee humiliated the former president.
- www.theatlantic.com Hypocrisy, Spinelessness, and the Triumph of Donald Trump
He said Republican politicians would be easy to break. He was right.
- www.aljazeera.com Debate in nuclear-armed former colony fails to reassure global community
The chaotic face-off between Trump and Harris added to concerns over the state of US democracy.
- prospect.org The Election Story Nobody Wants to Talk About
A Q&A with David Neiwert, America’s foremost writer and thinker on far-right extremism, on what might happen if Trump wins—or loses
- www.cnn.com Dick Cheney says he’s voting for Harris in November and Trump ‘can never be trusted with power again’ | CNN Politics
Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Friday that he will vote for Democrat Kamala Harris over fellow Republican Donald Trump in the November election, warning that the former president “can never be trusted with power again.”
- www.nj.com Trump’s team scrambles after JD Vance’s response to Georgia school shooting
Kamala Harris put out a statement with Vance’s comments and called for “action to keep our children safe."
Sounds like it’s time for somebody to make /c/TrumpVsTrump
YouTube Video
Click to view this content.
- • 98%www.nbcnews.com Trump campaign says the former president believes 'anyone convicted of a crime' should be jailed
In a later comment to NBC News, Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt gave a new quote, saying, "President Trump believes criminals should spend time behind bars, unlike Kamala Harris, who wants to eliminate cash bail.”
- www.newyorker.com The Haditha Massacre Photos That the Military Didn’t Want the World to See
When U.S. Marines killed twenty-four people in an Iraqi town, they also recorded the aftermath of their actions. For years, the military tried to keep these photos from the public.
YouTube Video
Click to view this content.
Here's Ozzy Man's critical analysis of Johnny Howard the Prime Minister buying back guns and crushin' them ay. It may have some relevance to current American events.
- • 94%www.usatoday.com New election poll shows low-income voters flocking to Kamala Harris over Donald Trump
A new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll of 1,000 likely voters found Harris leading Republican Donald Trump 48%-43%.
- www.cnn.com Liz Cheney says she is voting for Harris for president | CNN Politics
Republican former Rep. Liz Cheney is voting for Vice President Kamala Harris, she said during remarks at Duke University, according to audio obtained by CNN.
- • 94%theonion.com ‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens
WINDER, GA—In the hours following a violent rampage in Georgia in which a lone attacker killed at least four individuals and injured nine others, citizens living in the only country where this kind of mass killing routinely occurs reportedly concluded Wednesday that there was no way to prevent the m...
> WINDER, GA—In the hours following a violent rampage in Georgia in which a lone attacker killed at least four individuals and injured nine others, citizens living in the only country where this kind of mass killing routinely occurs reportedly concluded Wednesday that there was no way to prevent the massacre from taking place...
- • 96%qz.com A Kamala Harris win and a Democratic sweep would give the biggest boost to the economy, Goldman Sachs says
Harris' middle-class tax credits would outweigh the decreased investment driven by higher corporate taxes
- • 93%www.rawstory.com Republicans are privately debating 'how best to accelerate Trump’s exit': report
While Republican lawmakers are publicly rallying around former President Donald Trump, in private many of them are reportedly hoping he goes down in defeat to Vice President Kamala Harris this fall.Politico's Jonathan Martin reports that "the most fervent private debate" among Republicans right now ...
- 25and.me 25and.me: How Does Project 2025 Affect Me?
See how Donald Trump's Project 2025 will affect the things YOU care about
This is a site that has summarized and cited points from the Project2025 document (with assistance from Google's Gemini AI algorithm along with manual fact-checking) categorized by topic.
If you want a concise and accessible set of reasons on why a Trump/Republican presidency would be bad for the US, to help explain important issues to friends and family without sounding like a conspiracy theorist or a political savant, this resource may help.
- pro.paradigmnewsletters.org The 2024 Election Meltdown
The Man Who Predicted the Great Recession of 2008, Trump’s 2016 Election, the Covid Crisis, and Biden Leaving the 2024 Race Issues New Warning for Americans
While I was looking something up, I recently came across a link to this video that was talking about a 2024 election and I have been trying to figure out which community I can post about it in, and where I can get someone to look into it, figure out what its about, and whether or not we are heading for dark days after the presidential election.
Anyway, It has made me feel very scared since it was talking about how the Democrats in the House of Representatives are plotting to block the certification of Donald Trump if he wins the election, since they are predicted to take about the House, but doesn't mention anything about the status of the US Senate.
It also mentioned the Stock Market is going to be having a 50% crash, the final fall of the US Dollar, there will be public unrest possibly leading to a Civil War, Martial Law being instituted, etc.
- www.cnn.com Officials identify ‘Pinnacle Man’ after a nearly five-decade long investigation | CNN
A nearly five decade long search is now over, officials reveal the identity of a missing man found frozen in a cave along the Appalachian trail.
- The remains of Nicholas Paul Grubb, a man found frozen in a Pennsylvania cave in 1977, were identified nearly 50 years later using old-fashioned detective work rather than advanced technology.
- Grubb’s body was discovered by hikers near the Pinnacle in Albany Township, and his death was determined to be from a drug-induced overdose with no signs of foul play.
- The case was finally solved when a Pennsylvania State Police detective found Grubb’s lost fingerprint card from 1977, leading to a positive identification through the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).
- www.theguardian.com Revealed: top Vance aide worked for far-right consultancy with extremist links
Parker Magid worked for Beck & Stone, which is close to shadowy fraternal order and Claremont Institute
From @anarchoninaanalyzes@treehouse.systems on mastodon:
At this point I suspect that it will surprise precisely no one to learn that GOP VP candidate JD Vance has once again been found with his hand in the fascist cookie jar; this time it turns out that his press secretary, Parker Magid, recently worked for a far right political consultancy firm that brags about its ability to conduct "clandestine action" and has ties to reactionary extremist groups, and far right think tanks - so, fascists.
"Beth Daviess, a researcher at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, who has published research on SACR, said the politics represented by the group are “much more extreme than mainstream conservatism”. She explained there were two elements of that extremism: “their opinions on gender and the role women should have in society” and “their views on whether government should be democratic at all”.
The link is just one of a series of connections between Vance and the so-called “new right”, an anti-democratic movement that attacks feminism, racial equality and immigrants while centering the grievances of white men. Those connections were dramatized in an April 2023 photo resurfaced last month in which Vance posed with the staff of New Founding, a Beck & Stone-aligned venture capital firm “for the right” that opposes what it calls “woke capital."
The firm in question is called Beck & Stone, which sounds benign enough until you take a look at their clients list, which includes far right magazines who label themselves "counter revolutionary" (so against the left and liberalism), noted Peter Thiel fash-puppet Blake Masters, and the Society for American Civic Renewal - a men-only "secret society" founded by Scott Yenor, the guy we talked about a couple weeks ago who wants to teach your kids to shoot guns and build walls instead of social studies. This incestuous nest of fascist vipers also includes the revanchist far right think tank The Claremont Institute, and a venture capital firm that finances far right wing (read: fascist) enterprises. That firm's in house journal is called American Reformer, and inside you'll find articles attempting to tie left wing activists to Hamas, declaring masking during a pandemic to be anti-Christian, and making the argument for ominous sounding reprisals for Trump's felony fraud convictions by noting: "in a state of nature, differences are resolved by power.”
Astoundingly these aren't the only interwoven relationships with far right organizations and "respectable" fascists the firm Magid worked for maintains; if you dig far enough into the article you'll find a connection to another revanchist rag called IM-1776 which is tied to noted fascist propagandist Chris Rufo, and "has published pieces praising El Salvador’s authoritarian president, Nayib Bukele; Renaud Camus, who coined the “great replacement” conspiracy theory; the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski; and the Italian proto-fascist Gabriele D’Annunzio." So in other words, these guys are fucking nazis and its only the Pig Empire's unwritten rule about not saying that out loud that's obscuring that fact - a rule I do not subscribe to, and I would advise you not to either if you don't want to eventually get frog-marched to a labor camp by fascists.
So, what do you call politicians, press secretaries, and consultancy firms that hand out with, work for, and promote fascists? Yes, as Chris Rock once noted, you call them fascists too. Furthermore, given that this spider web of revanchist freaks is only one small portion of JD Vance's extensive connections to reactionary extremists, fascist "intellectuals" like Curtis Yarvin, so-called "New Right" think tanks, and a shitlord nazi billionaire supervillain name Peter Thiel, I think it's pretty clear that Vance is more than just window dressing for a Trump campaign also running to install overt fascism in America; after all, Trump is a 78 year old man who wolfs down Big Macs like they're going out of style, which means if elected JD Vance would be alarmingly close to the big chair and being able to make all his nazi friends' dreams come true with the full powers of the presidency.
Look, you might be tired of me telling you that JD Vance is a fucking nazi, and I'm honestly a little tired of writing it. But so long as the Pig Empire establishment and much of its media insist on refusing to say the quiet part out loud, it's important that everyone watching this nazi clown car speak the truth, and loudly. Whether you want to call it counter-revolutionary, far right, New Right, or "our guy" like 4Chan nazi shitposters, the fact is that JD Vance is a fascist, working for fascists, who are trying to transform America from a police state into a permanent overt fascist dictatorship. Those are just the facts, and more people should be speaking them out loud.