Labor Day

Anarchist Riot in Chicago - Dynamite Bomb Explodes Among Police.

Wikipedia has a page, naturally. Here are some excerpts:

After the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago on May 4, 1886, U.S. President Grover Cleveland feared that commemorating Labor Day on May 1 could become an opportunity to commemorate the affair. Therefore, in 1887, the United States holiday was established in September to support the Labor Day that the Knights favored.^[1]
. . .
Oregon was the first state to make it a holiday on February 21, 1887. 

 . . .

To take advantage of large numbers of potential customers free to shop, Labor Day has become an important sale weekend for many retailers in the United States. Some retailers claim it is one of the largest sale dates of the year, second only to the Christmas season's Black Friday.^[8]Ironically, because of the importance of the sale weekend, some of those who are employed in the retail sector not only work on Labor Day, but work longer hours. More Americans work in the retail industry than any other, with retail employment making up 24% of all jobs in the United States.^[9] As of 2012, only 3% of those employed in the retail sector were members of a labor union.^[9]

One out of every four workers works in retail? I wonder if that includes fast food restaurants. When I go to McDonald's there will be a dozen people, easy, working there. Go to Target and they might have 2 dozen people all told, including a dozen checkers, and a Target store is easily 10 times as big as a McDonald's.

Update 9-9-15: I went to Costco yesterday to pick up a few things, thinking it was virtual Monday, everyone would be back at work and the place would be nice and quiet. Nuh-uh. Jammed like Christmas, perhaps because they were closed on Monday? If you poke hard enough you eventually find that they were. You'd think if you Googled for hours that would show up, especially if it was one of their Holidays, but nuh-uh:

Inspired by Roberta X.

Tam and the Refugee

Refugees affected by the Mediterranean Crisis [Image: err.ee]

I've been hearing about the refugee crisis in Europe for a while now, but I haven't said anything because, well, what can you say? Sad state of affairs. Tragic. Terrible for all those poor people.
    I'm sort of wondering what's going on. I mean, why are we getting this crisis now? Is it because the tyrants have been overthrown and the people are now free to flee? Or are these refugees the ones who had supported the tyrants and now that they've been overthrown they are fleeing for their lives?
    Could it be that when the tyrants were running things there was a kind of order and predictability, but now they are gone and every Jihadist has gotten a gun and joined a gang and chaos is the order of the day? I don't know, but I think it's kind of curious that no one has been able to forge an alliance that can impose order. Syria and Libya are prime examples, but the whole of North Africa and the Mideast seem to be in an uproar. (I found this in Newsweek: ". . . more than half of the world’s displaced people come from three countries: Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia.")
    Anyway, Tamara has a few words to say about the subject, and among them is the phrase 'bien pensants', which at first I took to be a typo of been peasants, but, no, she spelled it right and it means something else entirely.

Dad burn over-educated wimmen. How dare they use that kind of high-faulutin' language where respectable people might see it?

Drones R Us

Marc built a drone. It flies, and this was the first time that didn't require repairs.

Marriage . . .

takes respect, love and commitment . . .

Making faces behind
the back of whoever's acting
childish helps, too.

Another anniversary. Who'd a thunk it?

Quote of the Day

I have a deeply-held religious belief: Thou Shalt Not Hold a Job Which Conflicts With They Religious Beliefs. For Doing So is Hypocrisy and a Sin Against Thy Dear and Fluffy Lord. - Comrade Misfit

Keep Your Balance

Walk Home Drunk Game

Sometimes my life feels like this game. Some days I am great, I am balanced, I feel good, my mind is sharp, I feel energetic and I get things done. Some days I feel like I've fallen in a ditch. Sometimes I manage to get a run going for days or maybe even a few weeks, but inevitably something happens and I end up in the ditch. You'd think that at my age I would have figured out what causes these crashes, but I haven't. I've come up with any number of theories, but none that can be tested. I mean, if sooper-secret North Korean agents were sneaking into my house and doping me with secret drugs how could I know? They're sooper-secret. If I could catch them, they wouldn't be sooper-secret, would they?

Bug of the Day

Beetle
Just because it's the hugest picture of a beetle I have ever seen.