Pot-addled pinko blogger kicked off "Before it's News"

Yup, it's true. They haven't posted one of my stories for a week.

At some level, I suppose that's a sad thing. After all, I've been with them since before they had a million stories. They're now closing in on five million.

At some other level, I'm relieved. Before it's News is a dodgy operation at best. Those who appear regularly at Before it's News will no doubt be acquainted with the magical disappearing page count phenomenon.

That's where, after you write something that's getting a bit of traction, the page-view counts suddenly go backwards. Ten minutes after you push "publish" you've got 50 page views. Ten minutes after that you've got 200. Ten minutes later you're down to 47... happens all the time at Before it's News.

Meanwhile, some whacked story about aliens abducting Jesus has got 60,000 page views. As I've said in previous missives about Before it's News, there cannot possibly be enough stupid people in America, in spite of the decrepitude of the education system, to garner those numbers.

I was somewhat reluctant to sign on with B4. The fact that some yokel I exchanged e-mails with assured me that my totally unproven theory that Jimmy Hoffa's last ride was to a salami factory didn't in any way give them pause for thought, should have given me pause for thought.

At the time, they were a click-factory that published corporate pressers as a matter of course, just to get their numbers up.

Now that they pretend to have some actual standards, they kick me out? Hey, that hurts...

But I'm over it!

Michigan workers take it dry

Governor Rick Snyder took Michigan down the "right to work for less" road today. It's for the good of the workers of course. Why should they forever be held back by those union bosses who skim off their union dues and use them to support... an entire snake nest of liberal issues only favored by Democrats?

"Right to Work" is a cynically Orwellian misnomer of course. Right to Work legislation is everywhere recognized as the draconian anti-worker initiative that it is. Now that it has found a home in Michigan, look for it to rear its head across the Detroit River, where wannabe Tory Premier-in-waiting Tim Hudak has already been making noises about how unions are too powerful etc.

The truth of the matter is that unions are weaker in the North American economy today than at any time in the past 75 years. What we need is a new generation of union leaders who are willing to face down the politicians who are doing the bosses bidding. We need more Jimmie Hoffas and Walter Reuthers and CS Jacksons and Bob Whites.

Maybe we need to roll back the clock a bit further and pick up where the "Wobblies" left off. One union for all working people. After all, everybody from the clerk at the 7-11 to the most sophisticated technician in the aerospace industry deserves to make a living wage. It doesn't need to be the same wage, obviously, but even the weakest and least-skilled among us deserves to live with dignity.

How the weakest among us fare out will be the criteria by which our society is judged.

I think Jesus said that.