"The Daily" app is here and I Don't Mean Jon Stewart's

Rupert Murdoch introduced "The Daily", his new virtual newspaper, yesterday.  The buzz on this has been mixed.  Alot of people like the idea.  Others question the content and changeability of that content because it is not, as one NewsCorp representative put it, "static".

I love the concept of a daily paper on an interactive tablet, in this case, Apple's IPad.  But further reading of this article indicates it will be another gossip heavy offering with the usual NewsCorp spin. 

"There is a growing segment of the population here and around the world that is educated and sophisticated but they do not read national print newspapers or watch television news," he said. "But they do consume media. And they expect content tailored to their specific interests anytime anywhere."

That's why I won't be buying The Daily app. 

Michael Moore: F*Bomb for Rahm

I am not a fan of Rahm Emanuel.  Why?  I don't trust him.  His personae is smug, secretive, arrogant.  He's the  hatchet man.  I never like the presidential hatchet men:  Haldeman, Rove, Rumsfeld come to mind. Also, my inner voice tells me he's not to be trusted.  My inner voice is usually, not always but usually, correct.  When I heard about the possible "shake up at the White House", i.e. Rahm may run for Mayor of Chicago, I thought, "Good riddance".  Apparently I'm in good company.  Michael Moore wrote an open letter rant to Emanuel in The Daily Beast.

 "Happy Fuckin' Labor Day!

I read this week that—according to a new book by Steven Rattner, your administration's former "Car Czar"—during White House meetings about how to save the tens of thousands of jobs that would be lost if GM and Chrysler collapsed, your response was, "Fuck the UAW!"

Now, I can't believe you actually said that. Maybe Rattner got confused because you drop a lot of F-bombs, or maybe your assistant was trying to order lunch and you said (to Rattner) "Fuck you" and then to your assistant "A&W, no fries." 

Or maybe you did mean, "Fuck the UAW." If so, let me give you a little fucking lesson (a lesson I happen to know because my fucking uncle was in the sit-down strike that founded the fucking UAW.)"

Moore refers to the lack of an American middle class prior to the formation of  the UAW, formed as a separate union from the AFL in 1935.  The UAW demanded a fair wage for a fair day's work after wages were reduced from $40 per week to $20 .  Sit down strikes ensued as did a 44 day take over of GM's Chevrolet and Fisher Body plants in Flint Michigan, Moore's home town. This organized strike resulted in reform and, according to Moore, the creation of the "middle class". 

"Before there were unions, there was no middle class. Working people didn't get to send their kids to college, few were able to own their own fucking home, nobody could take a fucking day off for a funeral or a sick day or they might lose their fucking job."

Now, I like Michael Moore and I enjoy his movies and his drama but he sure can go over the top when he's making a point.  If memory serves, the AFL, headed by Samuel Gompers, was the first truly organized union of trade and labor and Gompers the driving force.

With his election as president of the AFL in 1886, he sought to build a national federation of trade unions dedicated to these principles. He immediately threw himself into the organization's first big effort—a nationwide general strike on May 1, 1886— in support of an eight-hour workday. 

At the end of the 1890s, the AFL's membership began to soar-faster than in any other period in the history of the U.S. union movement.  

The unions gave people a better life, no question.  We studied this in college.  We read the stories in Mother Jones.  We listened to our parents argue as to whether or not Walter Reuther, Gompers and the like were Socialists, Communists or social reformers. 

"Nonetheless, labor unions did create a middle class for the majority (even companies that didn't have unions were forced to pay at or near union wages in order to attract a workforce), and that middle class built a great country and a good life. You see, Rahm, when people earn a fucking good wage, they spend it on stuff, which then creates more good-paying jobs, and then the middle class grows fucking big. Did you know that back when I was a kid if you had a parent making a union wage, only one parent had to work?! And they were home by 3 or 4 p.m., 5:30 at the latest! We had dinner together! Dad had four weeks paid vacation. We all had free health and dental care. And anyone with decent grades went to college and it didn't fucking bankrupt them..."

Moore goes on to admonish both Republican and Democratic presidents who seriously undermined union and non-union workers in the name of free trade.  Power to the people right?  No, power to big business and foreign corporations. 

Then a Republican fired all the air-traffic controllers, a Democrat gave us NAFTA, and millions of jobs were moved overseas. (Hey, didn't you work in that White House, too? "Fuck the UAW, baby!") Unions got scared and beaten down, a frat boy became president and, like a drunk out of control, spent all our fucking money and our children's money, too. Fuck."

You know what?  Michael Moore can exaggerate all he wants.  He still makes sense to me.

The Return of Chest Hair

msn.com has a headline with Hugh Jackman's photo touting "The Return of Chest Hair" with a question mark. I don't think it's much of a question. You either like it or you don't...at least, that's what I thought when I was young.

My boyfriends, for the most part, were always smooth-chested. No, they weren't shaving. I mean, this was the late sixties-mid seventies for God's sake! HAIR was in! I just found I always preferred the non-hairy chest. I remember one guy we knew who was the hairiest guy on the beach. He had hair on his chest, his back, his shoulders...everywhere! He was truly hirsute and I didn't even know what that word meant. We, my closest girlfriends & I, thought it was gross. He couldn't help it, of course. He may have even thought it manly because he was a popular guy. And, he had gorgeous eyelashes.

Anyway, I really didn't get into hairy chests until my twenties. Robert Reford showed the world the most beautiful blonde-haired chest in "The Way We Were". Woo Hoo!!!! I started dating a guy with a hairy chest and it was not a buzz kill by any means. Tom Selleck was on the air doing "Magnum", Ted Danson was doing "Cheers" and they both had hairy chests. I switched priorities and became a lover of hairy chested men.

So, nowadays, what do I prefer? Well, I guess I'll take a nice chest any way I can get it...hairy, smooth or otherwise! I mean, REALLY!!!!