Friday, February 04, 2005

good, bad, ugly

Good:

Last week's feature on Andy Stern and SEIU in the NYT Magazine was pretty good, but folks who've talked to me about it since know that I wouldn't have minded a little more attention paid to the people who actually built the SEIU movement on the ground. Credit to Stern for immediately posting an entry to that effect on the Unite to Win blog. It's eloquent, fairly humble, and worth reading. The other thing that was missing from the piece was a full (and unbiased) explanation of why some workers oppose Stern's agenda, and why in particular some workers feel that independent or micro-industry-focused unions are more effective. Look elsewhere on the Unite to Win blog for more on that, or check out the summary by Labor Notes.

Bad:

This isn't new news, but as of today it looks like Benon Sevan is gonna go through the ringer for soliciting oil sales while director of the U.N. Oil-for-Food program in Iraq, in violation of all kinds of laws. It seems a little unclear to what extent Sevan is actually guilty, but it's bad from every angle.

Ugly:

Fox News wasted no time making U.N.-funded terrorism their top story, and crackpots across the nation rejoiced. This will also doubtless give Bush & his Crony All-Star Team more fodder for their arguments that the U.N. can't fight terror effectively.

Hooray for sanctions!!
(personally, I think that would have been a better name for Bloodhound Gang's first album)

3 comments:

Josh Eidelson said...

I think our takes on this are pretty similar. I have to say Anna Burger his "political aide" is pretty offensive. You're right that Stern's response is quite good.

I finally met Manuel, and Lisa and I are organizing him to move to New Haven. So should you.

Zach said...

Are you actually endorsing the sanctions (as Kerry did) or are you being sarcastic?

And personally, i see it as more Dead Kennedys than Bloodhound Gang.

alek said...

not endorsing sanctions, obviously. but they're complex -- and that's not an invitation to a discussion...i already witnessed an epic discussion between you and Hud on that very topic.

yo, when we got the promo for "hooray for boobies!" in my record store we fucking died laughing. i was expecting so much more from them.