Article 43

 

Saturday, September 04, 2004

Welcome

Welcome to article43.com - a memorial to the layed off workers of (PRE SBC MERGER) AT&T, and the disappearing MIDDLE CLASS citizens of America.  It is NOT endorsed or affiliated with AT&T or the CWA in any way.

In addition to INFORMATION, resources and opinion for former AT&T workers DEALING WITH the EFFECTS OF LAYOFF and looking for meaningful employment, some articles here are meant to bring into awareness the LARGER PICTURE of corporate dominance of the UNITED STATES’ political and economic policies which brazenly DISREGARDS, disrespects and EXPLOITS worker, citizen and HUMAN RIGHTS under masks like FREE TRADE and the PATRIOT ACT - resulting in a return to a society of very rich and very poor dominated by a few very rich and powerful - whose voices are anything but - for the people. If left UNCHALLENGED, the self-serving interests of those in control may result in the end of DEMOCRACY, the end of the middle class, irreversible ENVIRONMENTAL damage to the planet, and widespread global poverty brought on by exploitation and supression of the voices of common people EVERYWHERE, while the United States turns into a REINCARNATION of the ROMAN EMPIRE.  Author Thom Hartmann shares some history and outlines some basic steps to return our country to “The People” in his two articles TEN STEPS TO RETURN TO DEMOCRACY and SAVING THE MIDDLE CLASS. I support CERNIG’S idea for a new POLITICAL MOVEMENT - if not a revolution to cleanse our country of the filth ruling it - as we EVOLVE into a GLOBAL community - assuming we learn the THE LESSONS OF OUR TIME and don’t DESTROY CIVILIZATION first.

Everything here can be viewed anonymously.  Inserting or commenting on articles requires a free user account (for former AT&T employees with a real, non throw-away, email address.) There’s no third-party scripts here like privacy-eroding WEB COUNTERS, hidden datamining widgets like Pay-Pal donation boxes, or AMAZON DOT COM tracking stuff.  The RSS feeds are pulled by the server, and have no relation to anything you may be doing here.  Standard Apache WEB LOGS of info like IP, and pages visited are rotated every few days, and used internally to check the web server’s performance.  Logs of suspicious activity may be shared with law enforcement, or other ISPs, to deal with troublemakers.  Nothing here is for sale, and donations are not solicited.

Per U.S.C. COPYRIGHT LAW - TITLE 17, SECTION 107, this not-for-profit site may reproduce copyrighted material not specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such articles will either have a web link to the source, home page, and/or show credit to the author.  If yours is here and you have a problem with that, send me an EMAIL, and I’ll take it off. Stuff I wrote carries a CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE permitting non-commercial sharing. In addition, this site’s owner forbids insertion and injecting data of any kind - especially advertisements - into ours by any person or entity.  Should you see a commercial ad that looks like it’s from here, please report it by sending me a tcpdump and/or screenshot in an EMAIL, then READ UP about how the PARTNERING OF INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS and companies like NEBUAD are DESTROYING INTERNET PRIVACY

Resumes of layed off AT&T workers are posted for free HERE.

Information on the Pension Class Action Lawsuit against AT&T is HERE.  More pension-related articles are HERE.

Links to some Telecom companies’ career pages are HERE.

Click HERE to learn a little about Article 43 and why I loathe the CWA.
Click HERE or HERE to learn what the CWA did when given a chance to do the right thing.
Click HERE for a glimpse of undemocratic and hypocritical CWA practices.
Click HERE for an article on Corporate Unionism.
Click HERE for an article of AFL-CIO’s undemocratic history.

If you’re looking for telco nostalgia, you won’t find it here.  Check out THE CENTRAL OFFICE, BELL SYSTEM MEMORIAL, MUSEUM OF COMMUNICATIONS, TELEPHONE TRIBUTE, and THE READING WORKS websites instead.

This site can disappear anytime if I run out of money to pay for luxuries like health care or internet service.

Discernment of truth is left to the reader - whose encouraged to seek as much information as possible, from as many different sources as possible - and pass them through his/her own filters - before considering how much truth is contained here, or elsewhere.

...the Devil is just one man with a plan, but evil, true evil, is a collaboration of men…
- Fox Mulder, X Files

Today my country, your country and the Earth face a corporate holocaust against human and Earthly rights. I call their efforts a holocaust because when giant corporations wield human rights backed by constitutions and the law (and therefore enforced by police, the courts, and armed forces) and sanctioned by cultural norms, the rights of people, other species and the Earth are annihilated.
- Richard L. Grossman

Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.
- Albert Einstein

He who is not angry when there is just cause for anger is immoral. Why? Because anger looks to the good of justice. And if you can live amid injustice without anger, you are immoral as well as unjust.
- Aquinas

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.
- Bishop Desmond Tutu

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
- Martin Luther King Jr

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
- Benjamin Franklin

If we do not hang together, we will surely hang separately.
- Benjamin Franklin

We must be prepared to make heroic sacrifices for the cause of peace that we make ungrudgingly for the cause of war.
- Albert Einstein

Solidarity has always been key to political and economic advance by working families, and it is key to mastering the politics of globalization.
- Thomas Palley

Update 8/11/07 - As we head into the next depression, fueled by selfish corporate greed, and a corrupt, SOCIOPATHIC US government, MIKE WHITNEY has a solution that makes a lot of sense to me:

The impending credit crisis cant be avoided, but it could be mitigated by taking radical steps to soften the blow. Emergency changes to the federal tax code could put more money in the hands of maxed-out consumers and keep the economy sputtering along while efforts are made to curtail the ruinous trade deficit. We should eliminate the Social Security tax for any couple making under $60, 000 per year and restore the 1953 tax-brackets for Americans highest earners so that the upper 1%-- who have benefited the most from the years of prosperity---will be required to pay 93% of all earnings above the first $1 million income. At the same time, corporate profits should be taxed at a flat 35%, while capital gains should be locked in at 35%. No loopholes. No exceptions.

Congress should initiate a program of incentives for reopening American factories and provide generous subsidies to rebuild US manufacturing. The emphasis should be on reestablishing a competitive market for US exports while developing the new technologies which will address the imminent problems of environmental degradation, global warming, peak oil, overpopulation, resource scarcity, disease and food production. Off-shoring of American jobs should be penalized by tariffs levied against the offending industries.

The oil and natural gas industries should be nationalized with the profits earmarked for vocational training, free college tuition, universal health care and improvements to then nations infrastructure.

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Posted by Admin on 09/04/04 •

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Friday, July 03, 2009

Derailed By Trane

burning-earth.gif

If you’ve read any of my other four [1, 2, 3, 4] Trane horror stories, they shine four bright spotlights on what I consider a terribly lousy product, with horrible support.

My air conditioner problems are much worse now, because this time, the hunk of junk ISN’T GETTING FIXED.

I’ve written to Trane customer service people a few times, and left voicemails for their regional representative - that always say he’s on vacation.

I’m still waiting for either to contact me.

July 3, 2009

Dear Trane,

Since purchased less than three years ago, my XL16i air conditioner hasn’t run a year without something breaking, but this last time it broke - the problem is far worse because the servicing dealer can’t seem to fix it after half a dozen tech visits, over a month’s time.

Repair efforts undertaken to solve a trouble that began with a service visit from Gembecki Mechanical May 10, 2009 - haven’t been resolved, and introduced a new problem, so now there’s two things wrong with the AC - leaving me with inadequate air conditioning - and if left uncorrected - the possibility of respiratory illness, and water damage to parts of my home.

The AC’s running nonstop, yet fails to adequately cool off the house. Freon was added or removed multiple times, the evaporator coil was changed, and TXV valve replaced.  Besides not fixing the original trouble - AC not cooling - these repairs led to a new issue of water dripping down the side of the air handler, threatening wood rot to it’s base due to water damage, growths like mold in my ducts from excessive moisture, health issues from those growths circulating through the house’s ventilation system, and who knows what else.

I got an 80+ degree living room (in July, in Florida) a month now, and electric bill near my mortgage payment.

There SHOULD BE a LAW.

If you’re a LAWYER, or Trane-qualified HVAC tech - let’s talk.

Posted by Stevie on 07/03/09 •
Section General Reading
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Thursday, July 02, 2009

Stimulus Resources

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Official U.S Government Web Site for Recovery and Reinvestment Information

Recovery.gov is the primary US government web site for determining how taxpayer dollars are being spent to stimulate the economy. On the site, stimulus dollars can be tracked by STATE, and by Federal Agency. Links to state recovery and reinvestment plans can be found from the STATE RECOVERY SITES page.

General Services Administration

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) agenda for the Recovery Act includes: Increasing green construction; reducing dependence on fossil fuels; nationally managed, regionally executed programs; promoting transparency in government projects. For more information, visit the GSA ARRA CENTER.

For specific information on how the GSA will spend stimulus dollars for green modernization and construction projects, review the STATEMENTS MADE BY PAUL PROUTY, acting administrator, before the Committee on Environment and Public works.

For information on how the GSA will spend stimulus dollars on a state-by-state basis, DOWNLOAD the U.S. General Services Administration - Public Building Service Federal Buildings Fund American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Spending Plan.

IRS Energy Incentives for Individuals in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act documents are HERE.

Posted by Stevie on 07/02/09 •
Section American Solidarity
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Truth Seekers

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People sometimes seek the truth, but most prefer like-minded views

PhysOrg
July 1, 2009

We swim in a sea of information, but filter out most of what we see and hear. A new analysis of data from dozens of studies sheds new light on how we choose what we do and do not hear. The study found that while people tend to avoid information that contradicts what they already think or believe, certain factors can cause them to seek out, or at least consider, other points of view.

The analysis, reported this month in Psychological Bulletin, published by the American Psychological Association, was led by researchers at the University of Illinois and the University of Florida, and included data from 91 studies involving nearly 8,000 participants. It puts to rest a longstanding debate over whether people actively avoid information that contradicts what they believe, or whether they are simply exposed more often to ideas that conform to their own because they tend to be surrounded by like-minded people.

“We wanted to see exactly across the board to what extent people are willing to seek out the truth versus just stay comfortable with what they know,” said University of Illinois psychology professor Dolores Albarracn, who led the study with University of Florida researcher William Hart. The team also included researchers from Northwestern University and Ohio University.

The studies they reviewed generally asked participants about their views on a given topic and then allowed them to choose whether they wanted to view or read information supporting their own or an opposing point of view.

The researchers found that people are about twice as likely to select information that supports their own point of view (67 percent) as to consider an opposing idea (33 percent).

Certain individuals, those with close-minded personalities, are even more reluctant to expose themselves to differing perspectives, Albarracn said. They will opt for the information that corresponds to their views nearly 75 percent of the time.

The researchers also found, not surprisingly, that people are MORE RESISTANT to new points of view when their own ideas are associated with POLITICAL, RELIGIOUS or ETHICAL VALUES.

“If you are really committed to your own attitude - for example, if you are a very committed Democrat - you are more likely to seek congenial information, that is, information that corresponds with your views,” Albarracin said. “If the issues concern moral values or politics, about 70 percent of the time you will choose congenial information, versus about 60 percent of the time if the issues are not related to values.”

Perhaps more surprisingly, people who have little confidence in their own beliefs are less likely to expose themselves to contrary views than people who are very confident in their own ideas, Albarracn said.

Certain factors can also induce people to seek out opposing points of view, she said. Those who may have to publicly defend their ideas, such as politicians, for example, are more motivated to learn about the views of those who oppose them. In the process, she said, they sometimes find that their own ideas evolve.

People are also more likely to expose themselves to opposing ideas when it is useful to them in some way, Albarracn said.

“If you’re going to buy a house and you really like the house, you’re still going to have it inspected,” she said. Similarly, no matter how much you like your surgeon, you may seek out a second opinion before scheduling a major operation, she said.

“For the most part it seems that people tend to stay with their own beliefs and attitudes because changing those might prevent them from living the lives they’re living,” Albarracin said. “But it’s good news that one out of three times, or close to that, they are willing to seek out the other side.”

More information: “Feeling Validated Versus Being Correct: A Meta-Analysis of Selective Exposure to Information” appears in volume 135, No. 4 of Psychological Bulletin. The co-authors: Albarracin; Hart, Inge Brechan and Lisa Merrill, of the University of Florida; Alice H. Eagly, of Northwestern University; and Matthew J. Lindberg, of Ohio University.

SOURCE

Posted by Stevie on 07/02/09 •
Section Religious Diversions
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Mass Layoffs Hit New High

mass-layoffs.jpg

Mass layoffs at highest level since at least 1995

By Anna Turner and John Irons
Economic Policy Institute
July 1, 2009

Mass layoffs - job cuts of 50 or more people by a single employer - are at their highest since continuous tracking began in April 1995, according to recently released data from the U.S. Department of Labor. In May there were 2,933 mass layoffs, representing 312,880 of the jobs lost that month.  The chart shows how the number of these mass layoff events has been dramatically rising since the start of the recession. 

Plant closings and MASS LAYOFFS usually mean a decline in the standard of living, limited future prospects, and significant PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS, such as LOW SELF-ESTEEM and DEPRESSION. Studies of mass layoffs find that job displacement raises mortality rates by as much as 15 to 20%, lowers consumption, and significantly decreases later earnings in the long-run.1

Besides the hardship of job loss on individual workers, mass layoffs affect the health of the community, especially those which depend on a SINGLE FIRM to employ a substantial portion of a local population. The closing of a plant or several mass layoffs in the same area also erode the communitys tax base, resulting in a ripple effect, such as decreased funding for schools or falling property values.2

It is clear that employers are still cutting jobs at record levels, and that the potential long-term effects of concentrated worker displacement could have a lasting impact on communities.

Notes

1.  Sullivan, D. and T.  V. Wachter. 2007. Mortality, Mass-Layoffs, and Career Outcomes: An Analysis Using Administrative Data.  Cambridge, National Bureau of Economic Research.

2.  1990. Legislative History of S. 2527. One Hundred First Congress Second Session. Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office: 721-724.

SOURCE

Posted by Stevie on 07/02/09 •
Section Dying America
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In memory of the layed off workers of AT&T

Today's Diversion

Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some people move our souls to dance. They awaken us to a new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom. Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon. They stay in our lives for awhile, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same. - Flavia Weedn

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