Topics 26-837

Today I addressed the issue.


Dave,
I was referred to you by the national office. Earlier this month, I had taken part in the "observation day," for an organizing campaign with Grassroots in Madison, WI. To my surprise, this required 10-hour day of observation, training, and work, was uncompensated. The local campaign organizer seemed to think that this was legal after I addressed it to her. However, I don't believe it is... at all. According to the Fair Labor Standards Act four criteria must be met for meetings/training sessions to not be considered working time:

1) Attendance is outside of the employee's regular working hours (not met)
2) Attendance is in fact voluntary (work is involuntary if it does not adversely affect the continuance of employment; again this requirement is not met)
3) The training is not directly related to the employee's job (this is also defined in detail in the Chapter 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations pertaining to the Employment Standards Administration, Title 29, Chapter V, Part 785, Subpart C; this requirement is not met)
4) The employee does not perform any productive work during work (not met)

Because you are required to attend this day of work, one should undoubtedly be compensated for its entirety. Making the trainees raise money on their own amounts to nothing more than abuse. Quite possibly one may contend that since no tax forms, contracts, etc. were signed prior to the observation day, that it is legal. However, this is not the case, again, if it is required, and if you are performing tasks for the company/organization.

I write this not because I am concerned with punitive actions against your organization, but because this is exactly the sort of malevolent, unfair practice that goes on daily in the private and even public sectors. I have sincerely supported (and even contributed to) these campaigns, but I now second guess myself. To be a "progressive" organization partaking in battles for the good of all at the price of people's livelihood is nothing more than a poignant hypocrisy. This hypocrisy is not only astounding, but embarrassing. Several of the people I worked with that day were students, and several were middle-aged working people. Not that anyone should encounter these unfair labor practices, but it's likely that some people have taken ten hours out of their lives, away from other obligations, to earn not a penny for their performed work. I have been in a union for four years and have seen these issues dealt with continuously. I have certainly not ruled out attempting to organize the people that work for this organization. This scenario has clearly illustrated the utility of organized labor... sadly. Please contact me at this email address.


Later we will discuss this. Other issues that need clarification and discussion:
1) Chiropractically adjusting dogs: why not?
2) Is giving to charity the same as giving people medicine for cancer?
3) Machines now do a lot more work that humans. For example, it only takes a week or so for about 4 guys to move a bunch of dirt. What does this mean?
4) If the governor cuts jobs to help us save our tax $ (thus providing the state with cheaper contracted jobs), doesn't this just bring less money into the state?
5) I remember when we agreed that Phil Collins and even Genesis were pretty good. Was that true?
6) I bought a couple of Rush albums for a dollar each today. One was Moving Pictures. Was it worth it? I don't really like Tom Sawyer or Limelight

Andy... Milonakis, The, Show

New show on MTV Sunday Stew. Apparently it doesn't take much to get your own show these days, not much at all. This show was created by Jimmy Kimmel, which explains it's lack of humor. Apparently he discovered this extrememly funny kid. The show ends up being a general rip-off of every MTV skit/prank show ever created, made original only by an awkward 12-year old kid that reminds you of your past awkward days in english or theater class. I did some web searching and found out that he has a website with some of his own raps which include the "famous" Super Bowl sucks (or something) rap. To solidify the legitimacy of it's funniness, Leno did mention it on his show. Anyway, maybe the kid does have some talent, it's too bad he's flushing it down the toilet far before he will ever realize it. And that my friends, actually is satisfying to know.

Check out the new posting on the site, or download it here. Finally, Quebec got a hold of me. They've been calling for months... with an important message after all.

Meta tags: right or wrong?

Does anyone know what the deal is with meta-tags these days. Somebody find out and tell me. Shit.

Where the shit...?

Everyone's gone again, as I sit here in this dank basement facility that we (I) call home. I will proceed with the sitting. Many a project are underway, and more things have been posted on the main page. Be a novel and noble being by taking a look. Also, I watched Family Guy, and I think that the show could have just as well be written by B.O.R.T. and I, being that it is filled with eighties cartoon references and other references- both things that we like. So B.O.R.T. and/or Ufoid, why don't you guys quit your current day jobs and we can do some real work, that will be ultimately fulfilling in its manifestation? I would be kidding, but only if I wasn't. Or, I guess, like many others before us, we can just pretend that what we normally do is real important and fulfilling and proceed. The likely scenario. No punitive action will be taken by me. Just go check out the new postings.

Material de Nuevo: Don't know

My subject lines become less and less meaningful. I don't apologize. My mind is rumpled in the seam. My productivity is high. Check the site for extraordinary updates. Like it says on the page, it's my 20th update in two weeks time... or so. Whatever. Anyway, to whom it may concern: contributions are welcome. I will judge them harshly then put them up if I want. Just kidding. I don't think I can say that since nobody even reads the shit that gets posted. Any contributions will actually be used as advertising points in the web market. Good daynight, it's bedtime now. I go to class at 9, get back at 11, watch MacGyver, then sleep through about half of Hunter, which is a crappy show.

Real World, afternoon smite

The Real World: why do I continue to peak at it through the opaque glasses that I have. I can't see anything, but I would be able to hear it clearly if it weren't for these pieces of musk melon. I never was a big fan of the show anyway, just a critic. Anyway, it turns out they haven't had real people on there since that rapist comedian, who did in fact represent 65% of the population. The show is now a spin-off of the show Elimidate, and other such shows. They now feature a Paris Hilton clone (from Wisconsin nonetheless), a virgin (new token type), a really dim war vet, and two frat types (the 4th or 5th season featuring this token type). So, without further waste of my time and finger strength, I would like to wish all the teenagers good luck on fucking all their friends in good fun, not getting jobs, drinking cheap vodka daily, and falling into their respective life-type according to Real World categories.

Look Out! Sprinkles of Candy!

This just in:

"ToMarket Inc. had just completed setting up at an unmarked downtown storefront at 210 First Ave. S. Then during heavy rain Tuesday night and Wednesday morning a roof drain got plugged up, and water leaked in through the air conditioning system and sewer vents, destroying nearly everything.

“We were ready to go and that isn’t going to happen now for a couple of weeks,” said Mark Teckenburg, vice president of the marketing company.

ToMarket sells and markets a sweatshirt that has cuffs that can be unfolded, creating a fingerless glove with a thumb hole. A Canadian man currently living in Israel is the patent holder, Teckenburg said. In the future, they hope to add more products to their marketing list."

An article from the J-town Sun, once again providing detailed reports of important things. I guess this story is not a worthless piece of contrived reporting, but it was just too funny not include here. This type of garment, made by Canadian Israelites, has already been developed on a shirt that I have made by Adidas (also a Canadian company?). I guess they didn't patent it. Anyway, this answers the question, "What ever happened to Mark Teckenburg?" a former classmate of B.O.R.T. (I think?).

One cannot numb the pain by traveling back in time, it seems...

Turns out that a lot of stuff in Back to the Future Parts 1-3 was wrong.

Numb the Pain

Today at work, my use of a needle made a small child cry so hard that he almost vomited. For this, I feel guilty. It's not really my fault, exactly, but then again, it was sad. I wish it wouldn't have happened.

Just gonna have to quit my job as a smack dealer, I guess.

-B-to-the-ORT.

Taking my pants off

Who did this? Thanks I guess. 10 hours of the Exploring the Realms page will surely attract new users. It either means that somebody left it open in a choice location (which I have people are doing now... this is not a popularity contest... except from my perspective), or somebody had 10 hours of exploring to do which I suppose is feasible. Anyway, thanks again for the potential exposure.



referring Link: http://amazingwonders.blogspot.com/
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IP Address: 65.101.103.179
Country: United States
Region: North Dakota
City: Fargo
ISP: U S West Internet Services
Returning Visits: 0
Visit Length: 10 hours 19 mins 16 secs

Enter the Archives

The Naropa Institue was a school where, in the 1970s-80s, many of the elderly Beats could teach the younger generation, who were generally stupid, as all younger generations are.

Someone, Ginsberg I guess, taped many of lectures, and they stream over the magical net now with an amazing clarity. The Burroughs lectures are the most enlightening ones, of course.

In paaar-tick-uuu-lr (as WSB might have said), check out the class entitled " on the technology and the ethics of wishing."

Twisted Malignancy

"The Priest shouted at the old woman. The elderly woman slowly trotted out of the shoe store leaving the smell of a turkey sandwhich behind. The priest being not too quick on his feet either, switched on his remote control toy airplane and activated the take-off sequence, manually controlling the airplane to fly repeat missions into the senior citizen upper torso. The older woman finally collapsed and died. The priest was then congratulated. The woman was honored for her heroic fight."

In the name of God

Anybody heard of this? I hadn't, until now, which is not surprising I guess. It has a Wisconsin legislator's name attached to it (Sensenbrenner), which is not surprising considering what happened the other day. Beyond what your read, there's nothing more for me to say.

In other news, I went to a celebration on behalf of the TAA held at the capitol today. "100 years of civil service," was the title. Various supervisors of state agencies were recognized upon after the governor's short speach. It was quite ironic, considering our "Democratic" governor has proposed cutting 10,000 state jobs coupled with transforming positions into LTE (limited term employee) positions and shelling out money to a private agency to study the feasibility of cutting all state custodial work (to be sold to a corporation). That's where the money's at nowadays my friend - running a consulting agency where you get paid to tell people to cut jobs... very enticing... and evil... and non-accomplishing. "Continue your job as a consulter, and continue to produce life-saving results and lemonade for all of humanity." Lemonade? Okay.

Also, I was approached by some Latinos selling ice cream from push carts near my house. I've never seen that before, and if I had a dollar I would have bought one. Also, just a second ago, as I typed, a guy from "Perez Auto" tried to sell me some coupons or something. He said I could get FREE (free) oil changes, tire rotations, etc., all with one simple security deposit of $60. I didn't really get their scheme, but he did show me a handful of checks and money, which made me suspicious considering that's how most schemes start. Anyway, I told him that I already have a "plan," and a "palm" tree in my apartment. Also I have only underwear on, so if you come to my door, expect delays. Point 2: Mexicans are looking hard for money in Madison. I guess it's possible that the state is also taking action on illegal aliens, disallowing them from making money in traditional fashions. Signing off...

Updated Status

Website updated. It is only for my own amusement at this point. Three things to look at for anyone who's wondering. It can't be any easier.

E14 robotic doom, look at "search and rescue fund at bottom"
Your horoscope
Technique: work on yours

Celebrity Justice doom

Today, as I woke up after my hour-long MacGyver session, I was accidentally caught watching Celebrity Justice. This is often the case for me, but to my credit, I do change the channel almost immediately. The top story today was that David Blaine was being sued by Minnesota crazy man Chris Roller. For what ask? Mr. Roller claims that David Blaine stole his God-like powers. He also sued David Copperfield once. If I weren't semi-interested in claimed God-like powers, the story would have ended here. It didn't, and so I turned to the only other thing that I knew had God-like powers to assist me in learning more - the internet. Anyway, he's got his own site that explains all of his different stories and things. He's got plenty to talk about, and you can certainly recognize his computer-programmer/nerdy guy persona. I believe he is attempting to create humor, but at the same time he exposes his underbelly of self-doubt and low self-esteem. Well, see for yourself, I just might drop him a line sometime while using caution as to not get sued.

My cult isn't like this.

"I suddenly had a flashback to the cult I grew up in and then it wasn't so funny to me anymore."

Some cults suck, like this one. Mine teaches good old fashioned hooded ceremonies and secret conspiracies; you know, the kind you like. I don't know why the idea of a cult is so fucking funny to me. I wish more people would read what I write on this site. They could share their cultic stories or criticize me for treating the whole thing as a piece of funny, funny satire. Good night....

My little plastic friend contorted, wrinkled, and burned in the flames of hell

The title will have nothing to do with the content today, unlike the way my writing is just basically repeating the title. New website updates are present. I will tell everyone (B.O.R.T.) exactly what they are. "E14: The story," is now up. Be sure to pay attention to the bottom of the page for added interactive fun. Don't abuse it. Don't abuse me. Having an abundance of keys is actually a status symbol, I hope to get more. Hanging the keys on your pants is really stupid looking, so don't do that. Some kids in the park today threw some bird feces at me. They were around 14 or so. Kids these days are pretty fucked up. Some younger kids (8 or so) were talking about losing some weight. They considered themselves chubby. I wouldn't necessarily disagree, just because I like to see kids have emotional problems related to physical appearance. The canvassing job I tried out for was confirmed by me to be breaking labor law. They better watch out. I plan to start a classic childhood cartoon animation club with this one guy who really likes Anime. You are invited to join the club. Yesterday it was pretty windy and I had a discussion about religion. The discussion isn't important now. Right Now! It's your tomorrow.

A Crushing, win one now!

Check out the new updates to Dimensional Fury. More are on the way, since I just took a picture of another religious monument that will be sure to please the eye a'plenty. Good luck suckers.

Go here for potential gains in self-worth

Engineering Made!

This is something for fiestawizard to groove on.

The last call of humanity

I went on my canvassing journey today, into the wide open spaces of the Madison hinterlands; down Milwaukee Street and way past the beltline. Twisting suburbian streets were met by my feet with horror, and for good reason. It turns out that most people will simply tell you to leave their door without any discussion. I guess I really shouldn't say most people, because really it was only about 50% of people. Many people simply say, "not interested" while others send their children to tell me that their parents can't come to the door. That trick is generally reserved for friends you don't want to play with when you're a kid, and you're parents are the messengers. Next time I'll be sure to kidnap a kid or two just to teach those parents a lesson. I would go into greater detail regarding specific scenarios, but it's all bullshit and to repeat such would only make my world view more bleak. It's not that I think the whole mercury pollution thing is the be all and end all of issues, however, nothing is more discouraging than people unwilling to even give you 2 minutes of their oh so precious fucking time. People like birth defects and the like. It's not like having any defectives will fuck up the already mentally sterile crowd that occupies the suburbs. As part of my own theory, I believe that people live in suburban areas specifically to avoid people and shut themselves into their own world. They thus deserve all that is coming to them, whatever it is that may be... mercuric rot, self-destruction, complete obedience to the master, etc. They feel no social responsibility and as far as I'm concerned they should put up larger gates and remain as hidden in within their mazes for eternity. The only thing that I can take from the whole experience is that I've now vowed to always give people coming to my door a good welcoming with cookies, soup and laughter. You're welcome, and thanks for taking the time to come by.

Adding to my cynicism is the group that's running this whole campaign. Supposedly "progressive" they neglect to pay me for this 10 hour day of "observation." Any more quotation marks and I'll shit myself. Yes, volunteering for a cause you deem worthy is noble, but less noble is advertising a paid position only to make people work as slaves. My newest temptation is to become reclusive myself, and hate things from my own little piece of heaven... good night.