Save the American Dream Rally in L.A.

Crosspost from The DP, Vol 14:

How big labor and progressive groups pulled off the biggest protests in 40 years.

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/wisconsin-protest-scott-walker-labor

Last Saturday’s “Rally to Save the American Dream” was the culmination of two weeks of protests and a 24-7 sit-in inside the Capitol. Not for 30 or 40 years have unions and progressive groups come together in such an outpouring of support for workers’ rights. What makes the Madison protests even more incredible is how spontaneous they have been: There has been no master plan, no long-anticipated strategy to turn Madison into ground zero for a reenergized labor movement.

What follows is a behind-the-scenes account of how the massive Wisconsin rallies came together, based on interviews with a dozen people who were intimately involved in them. It is by no means an exhaustive or complete account. But it offers a window into how the unions and their allies responded, swiftly and effectively, to what they saw as an existential threat.

Yesterday, I posted that I sent a bunch of letters to my local news stations complaining about their lack of coverage of the Los Angeles rally.

I got this back from one station:
____________________________

Thanks very much for your email. Can you tell me which newscasts you watched on Saturday?

We aired coverage of this story in every newscast on both CBS2 and KCAL9. It aired on CBS2 at 5p, 6p and 11p, and it aired on KCAL at 8p, 9p and 10p.

Sincerely,

Paul Button
Assistant News Director
KCBS/KCAL TV
_______________________________

The guys was right! I didn’t watch the CBS affiliate, but looked on their website for the story–and there was none. I assumed their website covered all the stories they put on TV. I even did a site search. OOPS!

50 Photos from the 50-State Rallies to Save the American Dream

http://front.moveon.org/50-photos-from-the-50-state-rallies-to-save-the-american-dream/?id=26344-18282728-2Je3GEx

I hope this the right place for this and I’m sure most have seen it before…but I think it is pretty good none the less:

A public employee, a member of the Tea Party, and a CEO sit at a table with a dozen cookies on a plate. The CEO reaches across, takes 11 of the cookies, looks at the tea partier and says, “Watch out for that Union Guy: He wants a piece of your cookie.”

How You Can Boycott the Kochs
The backlash against the Kochs’ influence in Wisconsin is gaining steam, with labor supporters starting to boycott Koch Industries’ many products (listed here).

Here’s the colossal list of products being boycotted:

Angel Soft toilet paper
Brawny paper towels
Dixie plates, bowls, napkins and cups
Mardi Gras napkins and towels
Quilted Northern toilet paper
Soft ‘n Gentle toilet paper
Sparkle napkins
Vanity fair napkins
Zee napkins
Georgia-Pacific paper products and envelopes
All Georgia-Pacific lumber and building products, including:
Dense Armor Drywall and Decking
ToughArmor Gypsum board
Georgia pacific Plytanium Plywood
Flexrock
Densglass sheathing
G/P Industrial plasters (some products used by a lot of crafters)
FibreStrong Rim board
G/P Lam board
Blue Ribbon OSB Rated Sheathing
Blue Ribbon Sub-floor
DryGuard Enhanced OSB
Nautilus Wall Sheathing
Thermostat OSB Radiant Barrier Sheathing
Broadspan Engineered Wood Products
XJ 85 I-Joists
FireDefender Banded Cores
FireDefender FS
FireDefender Mineral Core
Hardboard and Thin MDF including Auto Hardboard,
Perforated Hardboard and Thin MDF
Wood Fiberboard
Commercial Roof Fiberboard
Hushboard Sound Deadening Board
Regular Fiberboard Sheathing
Structural Fiberboard Sheathing

(INVISTA Products):
COMFOREL® fiberfill
COOLMAX® fabric
CORDURA® fabric
DACRON® fiber
POLYSHIELD® resin
SOLARMAX® fabric
SOMERELLE® bedding products
STAINMASTER® carpet
SUPPLEX® fabric
TACTEL® fiber
TACTESSE® carpet fiber
TERATE® polyols
TERATHANE® polyether glycol
THERMOLITE® fabric
PHENREZ® resin
POLARGUARD® fiber and
LYCRA® fiber

(source: alternet)