May 1, 2006
Happy May Day
It warms our red hearts to see workers marching here at home and around the world on International Workers' Day, otherwise known as May Day. Protests and demonstrations happened from Berlin to Indonesia, and while most were peaceful, there were scuffles with authorities. Here in the United States, the marches were to protest changes to immigration laws, and coincided with many businesses shuttering their doors as immigrant workers walked off their jobs. Marches were also held in solidarity with immigrants across the border in Mexico, where they celebrated "Un Dia Sin Gringos."
Of course, it wouldn't be the left if there wasn't a bit of bickering and internecine strife -- Josh Wolf reports that longtime activist Bill Carpenter of City College was harrassed and assaulted for taking photos by goons purportedly from ANSWER. And while the SEIU Local 790 urged members to wear purple and support the immigration protests, they did have to reschedule their own rally [PDF] for better contracts with The City for Thursday.
And since you don't have to be an undocumented immigrant to be overworked and underappreciated, remember that story of disenchantment with the labor practices at Electronic Arts? As reported by SFist Chuck, the Merc revealed the identity of the couple who took on Electronic Arts and won, Erin Hoffman and Leander Hasty. Well, Erin's started GameWatch.org as a resource for folks in the industry to swap anecdotes about their employers. Which just goes to show: Si, se puede!
Photo by Matt Cohen. More photos of the San Francisco march from Matt, Thomas Hawk, Todd Lappin and Liz Henry on Flickr.
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Since we're on the subject of hispanics, let me tell you a little story about Argentina. Those crazy Argentinians know what they love and love what they know. They know and love their Salsa (eating and dancing), their soap operas, and their beauty pageants. And they absolutely LOVE their beef. They aren't the world's leading exporter of beef for nothing. Fuck sacred cows; Indians and Argentinians probably hate each other with a passion.
When I was in Buenos Aires, I went to a small cafe to order something light. I asked the waiter what salads they have, at which point he looked at me with barely concealed annoyance. Apparently what is considered politically correct in America is considered a nuisance in Argentina. He suggested that I order "The Special". What's in the special? He tells me that it is a steak with potatoes. It was only five pesos, so what the hell.
About ten minutes later, the waiter comes back with a steaming, sizzling, carcass that had to be at least three inches thick. It was accompanied by a towering pile of greasy, fat-infested french fries. And let me tell you one more thing: it's a good thing that I am not one of those silly, wussy, vegetarian health nuts because that monstrosity was worth EVERY GOD DAMN BITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got some pretty cool pictures from 22 stories up:
http://rangelife.typepad.com/