This Day in Labor History: August 5, 1993. The Family and Medical Leave Act went into effect. This was an important, if not world-changing, piece of legislation that demonstrates the historical difficulties of groundbreaking expansions of the welfare state in the U.S.

It's so fucking hard to be a capitalist billionaire these days

The Wall Street Journal@wsj.com · 18h ago

New York City’s business elites are long accustomed to direct access to City Hall, where even Democratic mayors felt the need to court the city’s wealthiest and most influential corporate leaders. That access is getting shredded by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

This Day in Labor History: August 4, 1997. The Teamsters went on strike against United Parcel Service in one of the few major labor victories of the 1990s. Let's talk about it!

I just found a my mom's old copy of the Jimmy Swaggart album YOU DON'T NEED TO UNDERSTAND Really sums up the entire thing

I need those My Dinner With Andre action figures from Waiting for Guffman

Michael Warburton@michaelwarburton.bsky.social · 2d ago

This Film often has the piss taken out of it for being a rather sedentary piece about 2 people just talking a lot — BUT — it has one of the most brilliantly prescient monologues in the history of Movies imho. MY DINNER WITH ANDRE (1981) Have a listen.

I am spending the day packing up my faculty office because we are changing buildings. It's a real pain. On the other hand, I found a copy of my undergraduate honors thesis. I should read it and grade myself.

This Day in Labor History: August 3, 1931. The Unemployed Council in Chicago led black residents in protecting the furniture of a 72 year old resident of South Side being evicted from her home The cops responded by firing into the crowd, killing 3 people. Let's talk organizing around black tenancy!

This Day in Labor History: August 2, 1917. The Green Corn Rebellion breaks out in Oklahoma against American participation in World War I. Let's talk about rural socialist farmers rising up against a war they believed only helped the capitalists. Literally impossible to imagine this today!

This Day in Labor History: August 1, 1917. Hired thugs in Butte, Montana lynched the IWW organizer Frank Little. Let's talk about this incredibly brave and committed organizer, murdered for his talk of radical organization of miners, who, as a matter of fact, weren't' even interested in it.

This Day in Labor History: July 31, 1905. Matumbi tribesman in German East Africa (today, mostly Tanzania, or Tanganyika as it was known then) marched on the trading post of Samanga, burning cotton fields and the trading post itself. This was the beginning of the Maji-Maji Rebellion!

The Douchebag Factory

Nathan Daniel Hernandez@natedhernandez.bsky.social · last wk.

Gotta shut down the factory that makes this kinda guy

fwiw, I think this convo is maybe tied to the neoliberal turn among Ds that Elizabeth Popp Berman discusses. www.amazon.com/dp/069116738...

paul khruangbin (Dan Lehner)@danlehner.bsky.social · last wk.

if there’s anything I would want to drill into the public consciousness it’s that there are almost always like a dozen ways to approach any given problem and some of them will be more effective than others and we have to stop acting like the questions around it are against fixing the issue

Building on this, I reiterate again that the one demographic that voted for Kamala Harris in 24 at higher rates than Joe Biden in 20 was union members.

CAHSR's Strongest Soldier@emoscientist.bsky.social · last wk.

Feels similar to how a lot of online liberals blame unions for Harris's defeat because of the Teamsters, ignoring all the data about how union members actually voted in '24

This Day in Labor History: July 29, 1987. Jobs with Justice was created in Miami at the AFL-CIO convention. It had inconsistent results, though still exists today, but at its best, JWJ can do amazing work creating necessary coalitions between labor and community groups. Let's talk about it!

The War Goes on Forever and the Party Never Ends

Scott Horton@robertscotthorton.bsky.social · last wk.

In the totality of human history, the fossil fuels industry has never had a more faithful ruler than Donald Trump. Top fossil fuels execs have sold nearly $400mn worth of stock in their own companies since the Iran war triggered a supply crunch, cashing in on the Trump windfall.

Again I want to point out that the gods are not punishing Odysseus for his actions at Troy. They *do not care* about the Trojan horse. They think he is better than other people and pious. It's Poseidon specifically that hates him for what he did to the Cyclops.

I don't think that you can (or should) write about this subject without heavily emphasizing the fact the people in charge of how this technology evolves enthusiastically supported fascists who dismantled much of the federal regulatory and public protection apparatus

Opinion | The Environmental Case Against Data Centers Is Misguided

Our animosity toward data centers is really more about our anxieties about A.I.

nytimes.com

This Day in Labor History: July 28, 1869. The Daughters of St. Crispin was founded. This was the first national women’s labor union in American history and, while short lived, a great example of early women’s strike activism. Let's talk about it!

This Day in Labor History: July 27, 1989. Workers at the Nissan plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, rejected United Auto Workers representation by a 2-1 margin. This was a huge loss for the American labor movement and the inability to organize southern auto remains a HUGE issue in labor today.

"No doubt she is a Texan. They are nearly always bad judges of men, these splendid Amazons." Walker Percy, The Moviegoer.

This Day in Labor History: July 25, 1973. The Irish Minister of Finance, Richie Ryan, introduced the Civil Service (Employment of Married Women) Act, which ended the nation’s long-standing ban on married women working for the government. Let's talk about this important moment!

We are ruled by the dumbest motherfuckers in the world But hey, this is what Americans voted for.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2w ago

Peter Navarro claims that Canadian officials are "some of the most dishonest people I've ever met. They stab you in the back ... they're screwing us"

This Day in Labor History: July 23, 1892. The anarchist Alexander Berkman tries and completely fails to assassinate an unarmed Henry Clay Frick after that capitalist scum busted the Homestead Strike. This moment is a good time to discuss violence in the Gilded Age labor movement.

I really wanted to read this, but the fucking stories these days that news sites run that are filled with images popping up, tiny bits of text between video, etc., make it unreadable. Pivot to Video baby!! C'mon ProPublica, stop it. projects.propublica.org/blueberries-...

Do My Grocery Store Blueberries Come From Farms Where Workers Were Harmed?

Max Blau spent a year reporting on abuses of farmworkers. It left him wondering: Is the produce he buys at the grocery store part of the problem?

projects.propublica.org

Every time I watch an old Swedish movie I am reminded that the Swedish word for "The End" is "Slut"

*These* are the higher education stories that matter, not some half-assed report farted out by a group of faculty cranks at ivy and ivy-adjacent universities

Texas Conference of the AAUP@texasaaup.bsky.social · 2w ago

“Two courses for the fall of 2026 were canceled outright, while several more had to alter their syllabi to comply. Professors teaching those courses told The Chronicle they weren’t provided with any rationale for why their “exception requests” were partially or fully denied.”

In one month of Chile, I have had approximately 708% my lifetime consumption of mayo and 418% my lifetime consumption of avocado. At the same time.

Argentina is a nation based on genocide as much as the United States

Of course Jacobin would make the pro-Argentina case. Of course. jacobin.com/2026/07/worl...

Against Geopolitical Football Moralizing

Anglo-American commentary has lost its mind, blending “VAR-gentina” complaints with outrage over Milei’s cozy relationship with Trump and Netanyahu. Don’t buy the moralizing: Argentina is still worth ...

jacobin.com

This Day in Labor History: July 20, 1885. The British crown gave royal assent to the Chinese Immigration Act in Canada, which placed a $50 tax on Chinese workers and which reinforced the general global oppression of migrating Chinese workers around the world at this time!