Category: Economics / Economy / Income / Financial

Eugene V. Debs & the Pullman Palace Car Co. Strike & Boycott, plus More, in Peace & Justice History for 5/22

May 22, 1894

Eugene V. Debs, president of the American Railway Union, was imprisoned in Illinois for his role in the Pullman Palace Car Company strike and boycott, which had stalled most rail traffic west of Detroit.
Read more about the Pullman strike
May 22, 1968
Federal marshals entered Boston’s Arlington Street Unitarian-Universalist Church to arrest Robert Talmanson, who had been convicted of refusing induction into the U.S. Armed Forces. He had been offered sanctuary there by the leaders of the church who shared his opposition to the Vietnam War.
When the marshals tried to remove him, access to their car was blocked by 200-300 nonviolent sanctuary supporters.

Draft resister Robert Talmanson dragged by authorities from Arlington Street Church. 
May 22, 1978
Four thousand protesters occupied the site of the Trident nuclear submarine base in Bangor, Washington. The base was built for the maintenance and resupply of Ohio-class submarines.
Though built as part of the U.S. nuclear deterrent, they were perceived by some as giving the U.S. a nuclear first-strike capability with their ability to each deliver 24 missiles with multiple warheads from very close to the borders of other countries. The 14 vessels are at sea 2/3 of the time and can travel as deeply as 800 feet for a time limited only by its food supply.
Read more about Ground Zero  
May 22, 2001
Delegates from 127 countries formally voted approval of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS), a treaty calling for the initial elimination of 12 of the most dangerous manmade chemicals, nine of which are pesticides.

POPS are often toxic at very low levels, resist degradation and thus persist for decades or longer, because they become concentrated in living tissue, are readily spread by atmospheric and ocean currents.Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson, lauding the agreement, said,
“. . . we have to go further. Dangerous substances must be replaced
by harmless ones step by step. If there is the least suspicion that new chemicals have dangerous characteristics it is better to reject them.”
POPS background  

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorymay.htm#may22

Again clips from The Majority Report that I feel are important.

 

Let’s talk about the GOP punishing the poor….

An update on the car situation. Changed the plugs

So as many may have read here we recently took the car to the Ford dealership for an oil change.  On the way there the engine light came on.  Ron had noticed the car was running rough when first started.  I had not noticed as I thought the thing always sounded like it needed a new muffler.  But when they took the car back they came and told Ron that it needed a new engine for $10 grand.  Ron did not fall for it and after three hours drove it home.  

So on Monday Ron called the mechanic that works from his home or will come to yours.  He said to bring it over Tuesday morning.  I followed Ron over because we did not know how bad the car was and if he might need to keep it.  He had six cars in his driveway.  He moved one out and had Ron drive our car in its place.  He had a tablet that he plugged into the car and it told him everything also he could control the car from it.  The dealership wanted $360 to do what he did for free.  He showed us how the #1 plug was not firing.  That is why it sounded rough.  He shut it off and the car smoothed out.  I asked if we needed to leave it, and he said no it was a quick and easy fix, replace the plugs.  So I left, he and Ron went out to get the plugs.  He put them on his account so they would be cheaper and Ron paid for them.  So $40 dollars for plugs.  

He then put them in and had Ron drive it for 5 to 10 minutes.  Put it on the diagnostic on it and it showed all plugs firing.  He did say it might foul again and if it did then it was the valve cover gasket that would need to be replaced.  So Ron asked how much he owed for the repair and the guy said $80 dollars.  Ron was stunned.  He had spent hours in the sun doing this for only $80.  Ron gave him $100.  I figured that was smart.  The guy did great by us and took the car right away.  We might need him again.  Plus the dealership charged us nearly $500 to do the test and change the oil.  This driveway mechanic did the diagnosis for free and changed the plugs for $80 plus the $20 tip Ron wanted him to have.  Hugs

An update on the engine that the dealership claimed we needed to replace.

So first I thank all of you who read and responded to the post about how the dealership was trying to extort my 70 yr old husband into giving them the car and either buying a $10,000 engine for a 7-year-old car, or trying to force him into buying a set of hybrids they have not been able to sell … the 1.5 hybrid engine which no one wants.  I learned a lot from each of you.  I am clueless about engines.  

A couple of years ago when the dealership smashed the front of our car due to a worker taking it for the butler service that we paid for that touched up the paint and applied a new clear coat, they wanted us to take one of the 1.5 engine hybrids.  We wanted to have the same 2.0 engine we had only in the hybrid model.  However they had a three-year waiting list for them.  They dicked us around for nearly five months with each call telling us how they could put us in one of those stuck on the lot.  We did not give in.

So everyone knows how they tried to get Ron to leave the car.  I did not realize until today they asked that while Ron was in the service line.  The guy took the car information and then told Ron they would gladly take him home he shouldn’t wait.  Ron told them he wanted only an oil change so it shouldn’t take much time.  They then pulled the thing of making him wait two hours then coming to tell him the engine was blown and needed to be replaced, so they would take him home.  Ron at that time told them he drove it in and he would drive it home.  I learned today that he told the service rep, “See those windows?  They will be iced over and blocked by 8 feet of snow before I leave my car here.  Bring it out to me as I am driving it home”. 

It still took them an hour to return the car to him.  They claimed not to have done anything other than hook the diagnostics thing to it despite Ron telling them not to. They took $100 off the price because Ron told them not to do it, still they charged us $260 for the diagnostic.   All they claimed to have done is the oil change and rotate the tires along with checking fluids.  It took over three hours.   

Which makes what I am going to write next make them even more sinister.  So Monday Ron called the guy that fixes cars at his home on his driveway or comes to your home with his fully equipped van. He told Ron to bring it over on the next day, Tuesday morning.  We did, I followed Ron to his home.  He had six vehicles in his driveway but he moved a car out and put ours in his driveway.  

He had a tablet with programs that could diagnose the car issues.  He showed us how the cylinders were firing.  #2, #3, #4 were firing normally.  He shut # 1 off and even I could hear how the car smoothed out.  I just never noticed it before.  The number 1 plug was not working well, firing only a bit of the time.  I got panicked.  Then he told us that it looked to him that the car needed the plugs changed.  He asked if we noticed smoke or other stuff and we had not.  

Ron sent me home and he and the guy went and got the four new plugs.  The guy put them on his account so we would get his discount and Ron paid for them.  So they were $10 dollars apiece and it cost us around that price.  Then he took the plugs out and put the new ones in.  Then he checked it on his tablet and showed Ron how all cylinders were firing as they should.  He then asked Ron to drive the car around for ten or 15 minutes to see if it was running right.   

Ron said the car was running perfectly so he went to pay the guy.  Remember Ron bought the plugs at the guy’s discount, so the guy told Ron that all his work over 3 or 4 hours were only costing $80 dollars.  Ron bless his heart and I love him doing what I would have done had I been there.   He said sorry, but no.  You took our car in with only one day’s notice, put it first, worked with us to keep us from all the things the dealership wanted to do to us.  You need more than $80 dollars.  Ron gave him $100 because the guy wouldn’t accept anything more.  But he did say that he was willing to work on our van that has the issue of the lights on the A/C part of the dash not working. 

A decent man well worth paying.  This is the third time we have used his service, and each time we are stunned by how great he is at repairing the problem and the low cost.  The dealership wanted to charge us $360 for doing the diagnostics.  This man did it for free with a tablet that showed him everything and he could shut the plugs off with it showing us the difference with the bad plug out of the system.  No $360 dollar charge. Our friend James who lived with us and still sends me texts calling me dad … oh how I wish … is having car troubles and Ron is sending him this guy’s information.  I think the world is not as dark as I thought a week ago. There are still some people willing to do good in this world of darkness.   Hugs    

Shout It From The Rooftops,

also call your US Rep. I did that yesterday, but likely will do it again today. Anyway, tell everyone about this, and thank you!

“Big Beautiful Bill” in Congress Hurts Poor Children and Establishes New Federal School Vouchers

These Are a Couple of Worthwhile Reads.

Homeless With A View …

Trump & The Press: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

A GA woman is being kept on life support despite being brain dead because she is pregnant.

Republicans caused or did this. We should ban them.

Comer: James Comey Was “Trying To Jizz Up A Coup”

Trump Admin To Close Famed NASA Research Center

Photo: Acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro, who also serves as Kennedy Space Center director, a post she assumed in 2021. Trump elevated Petro to lead NASA after he ousted former Sen. Bill Nelson for believing in climate change.

 

WaPo: The Federal Brain Drain Is Rapidly Escalating

 As previously reported here, European governments have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to lure US scientists.

OK Schools Chief Calls Education Ranking “Fake News”

Newly-released data shows that Oklahoma ranks 46th in per-pupil spending, but Walters, who is eyeing a run for governor, has called for cuts to his state’s “wasteful” education spending, including $250,000 to provide school districts with emergency inhalers. 

In his KFOR interview, Walters did boast about getting new teachers a signing bonus, but as was widely reported the time, $290,000 of that money had to be clawed back because it had gone to teachers who did not qualify. Some of those teachers had already spent the money.

Combat Sports Clubs Are Recruiting White Nationalists

The SPLC’s report is here. The February 2024 report linked below shows that the same thing is happening in the UK.

Tesla Effectively Bans Its Investors From Suing Them

 Guess who donated to the Texas Republicans behind the new law?

 

Felon Has Another Screaming Fit On “Stolen Election”

Trump Demands That Walmart “EAT THE TARIFFS”

Feds Seize Shipment Of Shirts From Anti-ICE Brand

Something something free speech.

New: CBP seized a shipment of t-shirts from @cola.baby featuring a swarm of bees attacking a cop. The company also sells "ELIMINATE ICE" t-shirt and previously was threatened by LAPD for "FUCK THE LAPD" shirts and hats. Shirts to be "destroyed under CBP supervision"www.404media.co/cbp-seizes-s…

— Jason Koebler (@jasonkoebler.bsky.social) 2025-05-15T19:44:07.171Z

Forbes: Canadian US Tourism Boycott Is Growing

Canadian Travel Boycott Has Strengthened—Car Travel To U.S. Plummeted 35% In April, Fourth Consecutive Month Of Year-Over-Year Declines

— Forbes (@forbes.com) 2025-05-13T11:53:03.619Z

Trump Posts Video Claiming Hillary Is A Serial Killer

OH GOP Bill Would Designate “Natural Family Month”

Rep. Beth Lear first appeared here in January 2024 when she defended her anti-trans bathroom bill by citing the “millstones” bible verse which calls for drowning anyone who hurts children.

She later blamed “depraved monster” Alfred Kinsey, liberals, and the ACLU for transgender people even existing.

Rep. Josh Williams first appeared here in July 2024 for his bill that would criminalize drag shows in the presence of children. Williams reintroduced his bill last week.