The UAW orchestrated a worker strike at 3 manufacturing facilities in Missouri, Ohio and Michigan today, something that has been brewing for months. Although they have already backed down from their initial bargaining point of a 40% wage increase to match CEO salary increases, this is a step in the right direction. It isn’t yet clear how much of an impact this initial strike will have, but make no mistake, the Excel sheet warriors are going to see it.

With the auto industry’s recent trend, like many corporate sectors, of spending a large portion of profits on stock buybacks, this was an inevitable situation. I went to The University of Toledo, and to see the Jeep factory there be on the forefront of this was my education coming full circle. I took American Labor History as a Junior at Toledo and it is so evident to me that the continuing cycle of unbridled capitalism is unsustainable in a modern western society. The same things that were happening a hundred years ago are happening again, and because of our celebration of this economic system, we fight, fight again.

Make no mistake, the Gen Z kids are going to see it too. They are forming, and have been forming, their own political perspectives for years now amidst runaway gun violence in schools and in general. I want to ally with these young people, as one should always want to do to see a youthful perspective in politics. In the face of Vivek Ramaswamy suggesting raising the voting age to 25, where are these young voters supposed to turn to make a difference in their lives if the Republican answer is to silence them?

This union strike, and the rise of interest in forming labor unions in this country is the slow, but necessary microbial rebuilding of the labor infrastructure Reagan destroyed. I would probably be laughed out of the room on the way to filing unemployment papers if I suggested forming a union in my workplace, but that won’t stop me from supporting every effort to move in that direction. Make no mistake, I’m looking at you Bazooka Joe Biden, this is an opportunity.

With all the noise surrounding Trump’s myriad of absolutely justified indictments, Biden has a chance to stand with the UAW, and show he’s not just going to be doing a ribbon cutting tour for the next year. As much as the Inflation Reduction Act seems to be making an impact so far, I think it will have a limited impact on the idealistic Gen Z voters they absolutely need to reach. The American people are industrious, creative, inspiring, and make no mistake: the world is watching.

You might already want to call me a commie for writing something about this very important holiday. You might not give a second thought to even why this is a federal holiday, and just appreciate the day off. Please allow me to explain why in a modern western society this day is still vitally important. Labor Day in early September every year should give you pause to reflect on all those that came before you to make your life better, and why we have to continue fighting today.

When you clocked out on Friday of this week at the end of that long 40 hour toil for some, calling for others, and whether it be a profession or a punishment, that 40 hours was fought for. One of the original international labor organizations’ slogan that rings as true today as it did over a hundred years ago is: ‘8 for work, 8 for sleep, 8 for what we will.’ Make no mistake, organized labor and the people it comprised have made your life today irrefutably better.

Since the origins of the Boston Manufacturing Company, and the Waltham and Lowell mills that were the first mass production facilities in the United States there has been a struggle in American capitalism between ownership and labor. The shift in the 19th century from trade-unionism as a profession and the factory system is a lesser known narrative in American history, but in no way unimportant. The division of labor in many ways began there, and still exists today.

The concept of a weekend, and a 40 hour work week, and overtime pay, and paid time off were not foregone conclusions in the system, but something vehemently fought for by organized labor. Call me a commie again if you like, but everyone, not just those in the organization, benefit from organized labor. This is seen through better compensation and benefits, but also basic things like workplace safety that would be otherwise ignored in a runaway capitalist system.

I am writing all of this today to say, if you have the opportunity to join a union in your workplace, or start one, I strongly urge you to do so. As a proponent of yourself and your family, you would be much better served to participate in a labor organization than to break under the pressure or union busting tactics and fear mongering of your employer. If you do not advocate for yourself, and your co-workers, nobody will.

In light of all the high profile politicians soon to be awaiting the fate of a jury of their peers, I feel like that is not an excuse for not voting anymore. Think about it, you could be sitting in on high level classified documents being presented as evidence or maybe even convict a former President. Jokes aside, I digress, as this is intended to raise awareness of the importance of our Ohio special election in August, and this is a rare case in which direct democracy via the vote may be swift.

I will be voting absentee, as I usually do, as Donald Trump did in his ill advised time in Washington, as many Americans rightfully do. Early turnout numbers seem promising, but this is not one to sit out or assume the right side will prevail. This special election is a shot across the bow by the ridiculous and unrepresentative Ohio State legislature who is trying to push a special election through when they think the least amount of people will participate. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but, ‘Ohio, we need to be more like Kansas’ and send a resounding message to the religious right: Get your ignorant hands off my rights.

A ‘No’ vote this August with a significant majority will signal a clear message that can be followed almost immediately by ballot initiatives in November for abortion access and responsible marijuana legislation in the state. Not a fan of the ‘Jazz Cabbage?’ That’s fine, don’t vote to legalize it. Abortion access however is something that every American has a right to under the constitution’s privacy clause, regardless of what justices Beer Can, Private Jet, Godly Wife, and Chief Justice Spineless wrote in the Dobbs case.

More than anything, I want Ohio to not become Florida, we are reasonable people. In a democracy, a majority vote needs to mean a decision of the people. There is no ideological message behind voting no on issue 1, only that you want your vote to continue to matter. Dissolution and disgust of the system is understandable, but is not an excuse for not making your voice heard on August 8th. If you got the reference in the title, I’ll leave you with this: ‘Badges? We don’t need no stinking badges!’ Just fucking vote Ohio!

My girlfriend Emily was honestly concerned about us seeing Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds in Cincinnati, because it was my birthday present, and she knows I hate the city. I explained that I would see Noel’s birds play on Neptune if they had Uber, but honestly, the Cincinnati hatred was 90% sporting banter and 10% actual dislike for the city. I went into the weekend with this type of an open minded headspace, I left with that 90% number being significantly altered.

The first 10% dip came when we arrived at the Zoo, which the lovely Emily’s mother aptly described as, ‘All Hills.’ Accurate would be an understatement, the Zoo that killed Harambe is basically an asphalt rollercoaster with you as the human chain. Don’t get me wrong, I am the last person to get a zoo review from, it’s not my thing, but the Columbus Zoo puts this glorified stair master to shame.

The second 10% dip came the next day after mini golf at a soon to be abandoned mall on the east side. This was July 1, but I was wearing my Columbus Crew pride shirt, as one does on any day of the year as an ally. Thankfully Emily didn’t alert me as it was happening, but one of Cincinnati’s finest troglodytes gave me an intentional dirty look for having the audacity to wear a shirt with a colorful, ‘Love Unites’ on the front of it. I wasn’t expecting the Short North, but I also wasn’t expecting much.

The third 10% dip came when the local moron in front of us at the show turned around to voice her displeasure about someone blowing on the back of her neck. I don’t think I have to explain to my readers that at an outdoor venue, air can move through, and so I responded to her with, ‘Are you trying to talk to me?’ because I genuinely could not tell. The stupidity of turning around to semi-accuse me of such a thing, as my arm is around the woman I’m with is well…to quote Lebowski: ‘Well I guess I’ve seen something every bit as stupefying as you can see in any of those other places, and in English too.’

The fourth 10% dip came when I realized early Sunday morning that I had miscalculated. After experiencing Cincinnati for 3 days and 2 nights, I gave it too much credit initially. So we are now at my objective 50/50 level of justified hatred and sports hatred, so it’s safe to say I will not be back any time soon. I don’t know how my extended family has lived in this part of Ohio for so long, and I feel for them all.

If you like Cincinnati, let me just drive an indelible stake into your, ‘Pro-Cincinnati’ stance: The Creation Museum. I know it’s on the Kentucky end of town, but of course, ‘Love Unites’ folks on the border, especially if they’re blood related on the Kentucky side. My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Cincinnati who have to live there every day. If Cleveland is the, ‘Mistake on the Lake’ then Cincinnati is the, ‘Miscarriage on the River.’

As a child of the nineties I will readily admit that there is a direct correlation to the American Express advertising campaign with Jerry Seinfeld and the reason I have one today. Fast forward another few years and another great ad cycle in a new format that added even more humor from Mastercard, mint. Add in the fact that I have worked for Discover Card in the past and you’ve got the ABC’s of me, with credit cards at least. Visa is too ubiquitous to merit comment, enjoy your place at the top.

Of course I didn’t understand anything about the comedy of Seinfeld when I saw the ads, most likely from watching golf with my dad on Sundays, but I got the joke. The gas station commercial where he does a, ‘perfect pump’ to $20.00 even, eyes the obsolete, (except in Oregon apparently) gas station attendant and then intentionally pumps more is a masterpiece. As the attendant opens his palm for the change, Jerry reaches into his jacket pocket and pays at the pump with his glowing green Amex.

The value of anything is relative, but that kind of mindshare you cannot buy. I recently found out that I crossed paths with another force in the universe that some could say money cannot buy: Taylor Swift in Cincinnati. I’m sure there’s a Cincinnati post coming, as I have thoughts, but I digress. The Ticketmaster fiasco was horrible, and as a music lover I am compassionate. However, that may not be reflected in my experience with the crown jewel of Appalachia this weekend, and with Taylor also being there.

She sold out the NFL stadium twice, with the lowest priced tickets on the secondary market being over $1700.00 when I looked today. That’s not what has me bothered, it’s that it made everything else in this ill equipped pseudo-metropolis worse for the weekend. Finding a hotel deal was a like pulling teeth from a shark, and even though our events aren’t close to each other, (8.7 Miles) it made it a headache. I just want to be Fearless and express that it was not the Love Story I had planned for our weekend together, although through her lyrics I have come to know I wouldn’t be the first to have that experience.

Anyway, my Mastercard commercial goes like this:

Two nights in an overpriced hotel in a city you loathe: $425
Gas to drive your Prius past the, ‘Hell is Real’ sign and get a belly laugh: $19.52
The beer your girlfriend didn’t want, but, ‘this is your birthday present…so, sure.’: $13
Concert tickets to see your favorite artist play a better show than Taylor Swift is simultaneously: Priceless.

When I started my day, I wasn’t looking for a barometer on homophobia in this country, but I found out anyway. During a lull in the work day I was asked about my weekend plans, to which I had to make a calculated decision: do I tell her I’m going to Pride? I felt almost, ‘closeted’ in my heterosexual support of the movement, but it’s 2023 right?

‘I’m going to Pride with my roommate and his friend.’ When I reflected on the blank stare that followed, I thought, ‘I might as well have told her I was walking on the sun.’ That last part was just to get the Smashmouth clicks, but like the song that has aged over 25 years, so was the viewpoint that followed. At least the song has aged pretty well, the response has not, but it played like classic rock radio to my catholic upbringing.

I said, ‘The LGBTQ festival that’s downtown (Columbus), I think at Goodale Park.’ The very much ‘in the workplace’ response was triggered by the letters and a pretty horrifying diatribe followed. Luckily, my long history of proximity to religious bigotry prepared me for the vibrating bullet points. Do you know how the right keeps saying we are exaggerating and overreacting when we talk about how backward the rural areas of this country can be? We really, really, are not. This story takes place 27 miles West of I-270.

First there was the ceremonial mocking of the letters, ‘LBGTQ…H, R, I…whatever, why do they have a whole month? I mean what about veterans? They only get one day!’ Followed closely by, ‘what people do in their bedrooms, they need to keep it there.’ Eloquently transitioned into how, ‘wrong’ and ‘gross’ They are. A few more tropes were repeated and despite the younger girl in the cubicle next to me trying to reason with her, no avail. I have to give her credit for turning to me at the end and adding, ‘not like, you Justin’ to the end of it.

This kind of overt homophobia with no recourse is something that has bothered me personally for a long time, and this level of stupidity stunned me today. My face was beet red, I could feel it, but I didn’t stop her because it served no purpose and in an unrelated matter she won’t be in that desk by next week. Good riddance, but needless to say I didn’t have the time of my life today.

The thing is I know she’s not the only one, there are so many people who wrongfully conflate this type of speech as, ‘telling it how it is’ or ‘not being politically correct’ It’s not! It’s hateful to an entire group of people who just want to love each other for who they are. It is also a completely unacceptable thing to speak so openly about at work in this day and age, conservatives you aren’t being ‘silenced’ you are being corrected. Wear your colors with pride this month, and every month, whatever the color is, whoever you love, whoever you are.

‘Why did he take it with his left?!’ Andrew exclaimed after a FIFA video game player missed a shot early on in life as I recall. To which his father could not believe that he knew the dominant foot of the player taking the shot in something so insignificant as a game. The semester I lived with him, we played more games of FIFA soccer than could be approved of by the FDA, CDC, FBI, or anyone really. Liverpool vs. Chelsea, his relentless Frank Lampard attack against my Steven Gerrard counter-attack, he would play guys out of position because it would affect me. ‘Heady’ in the best way.

When we weren’t screaming obscenities at each other about soccer that semester, we were making our own Guitar Hero songs as a prologue to our future band years. I bought the Squire Bullet guitar I later sold to him that semester to teach myself how to play. We still have the best cover of The Who’s, ‘Baba O’Riley’ on YouTube. More on that in a moment, but we were from the beginning in it for the love of music, and as long as there was another beer within arm’s reach the chords kept playing.

Andrew moved on to Ohio Northern University and I had a guest pass to the, ‘Delphos House’ there. A more likable group you could not put together organically, by sheer force of beer pong and will, they persevered. One of the house’s favorite drinking games was, ‘Pop Culture.’ Beautiful in its simplicity and everyone could bring something to the table and play, really the way we all felt about each other and life at the time. Like Maya Angelou said, ‘people will forget what you said at the Ada house, people will forget what you did at the Ada house, but people will never forget the way the Ada house made them feel.’

Going back to soccer again, I have to mention this memory to balance this with what comes later on the Chelsea front. The 2007/08 UEFA Champions League Final, the, ‘Super Bowl’ of soccer was played between my Manchester United, and his Chelsea. We watched it together, agonizingly, to its’ post 120 minute conclusion. My recollection is when it got to the penalty shootout, we both were on our knees, hiding behind the couch, so afraid of watching the result. The penalties went in my favor 6-5 for Manchester United, despite a missed one by Andrew favorite Christiano Ronaldo. Glory, Glory Man United!

Moving on, by senior year, Mark, Geoff, Andrew, Kurt and I were the band Disagreeable Henry. The beer pong room was requisitioned to be the rehearsal room, and as Mark insisted, we got songs, ‘polished.’ We played two shows at Little Mexico in Ada, but the life experiences were in the practice space. While the others were working a few things out, Mark and I made the tree stump just outside the room our personal Neil Young stage to each other. We never played a Neil Young song as a band, my remembrance of this is the Andrew quote, “‘Heart of Gold’ isn’t a panty peeler.” Despite this, we kept on, ‘Rockin’ in the Free World.’

Going back a bit, the most affectionate name I’ve ever been called is, ‘Dude’ by my best friends after we became obsessed with referencing the movie, ‘The Big Lebowski.’ We called Andrew, ‘Walter’ although he fit the character the least between the three of us, Adam, ‘Donnie’ being the third. Andrew would call me, ‘Duder’ and every manner of the expression for my remembered life after we became fans of the movie and got together to make White Russians and jokes together. We went to Catholic school for 13 years, and despite all the scripture, nothing comes close to the ethos: “Nobody fucks with the Jesus!”

He loved the original Matrix movie, like I did, for both the visual and philosophical reasons. I also tried to introduce him to as many of the great movies I was exploring while I was minoring in film at Toledo. I screened him Sidney Lumet’s, ’12 Angry Men’ and in another existence I hope he was thinking about that jury every time he would have been defending someone as the greatest lawyer in existence. How many dollars per hour? Andrew dollars per hour.

There is nothing I can say to fix the hurt. In the spirit of movies, however, take the quote from the end of, ‘Saving Private Ryan.’ ‘Earn this…earn it.’ His death was like all the heartbreak and loss that went into saving private Ryan in the movie. To move forward without him we must earn this life we are so lucky to have. Everyone should be doing something every day to earn this, this existence that he doesn’t get to have. Not out of guilt mind you, but for the love, for the love of life he so consumed in every way he could. Count us in, 4/4, I wanna play a few more bars for you, brother.

‘Blue is the Colour’ – I wanted to pay tribute to Andrew and his favorite team, Chelsea FC, that I loathe. Their anthem is this wonderful collectivist chant: ‘Blue is the Colour.’ So I continued to tweak this song over the last 10 years and I hope you enjoy.

Let me start where it begins with the, ‘Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act.’ Signed into Florida law April 22, 2022 by the dishonorable governor Ron DeSantis. This is one of the most horrific pieces of Florida legislation in competition with House Bill 839, which bans local governments in Florida from requiring gas stations to add electric car charging stations. Ronnie, I’m not asking you to be progressive, but you are more and more making me wish for climate change to put your state more under water than it already is. Every time the blue states bail you out from a hurricane you seem to have some pretty white boots though.

This week it’s news that publishers of Florida public school textbooks are having their social studies textbooks scrutinized now. As a history major this is extremely troubling to me considering the lengths that these textbook makers are taking to comply with your obscene law. It was reported that a publisher so diluted the story of Rosa Parks and the struggle for civil rights in response to the law to this text: ‘Rosa Parks showed courage. One day, she rode the bus. She was told to move to a different seat. She did not. She did what she believed was right.’

No, I know what you’re thinking, that was a real attempt at complying with Florida’s law to avoid hurting little white kids’ feelings. Should they ever be so bold as to read a real source on the smartphone they possess, imagine their discomfort! Maybe Ronnie Dangerous should have it on the agenda to ban smartphones with internet access from aspiring learners who don’t want to be in the dark until they complete their K-12. Keep in mind, by then, they would probably be irreparably stupid, pregnant, and trying to get on the public assistance you don’t want to provide.

Just for fun, to lighten the mood. Let’s dilute some more history for Florida’s youth. On 8–9 November 1923 in Munich, Germany a young Adolf Hitler during an incident called the, ‘Beer Hall Putsch’ the Nazi leader led an attempted coup, (edit: visit to a government building) and improved his public speaking skills and satisfied his followers with a nice speech. Then from 1939 to 1945 German football clubs had frequent hooligan fights with other clubs of Europe, Paris Saint Germain hooligans didn’t put up much of a fight, but the English Premier League held their own. Eventually, even though the United States didn’t have a league at the time, they allied with FC Lokomotiv Moscow hooligans to calm the Germans down. Adolf Hitler died from a Tylenol overdose.

Maybe you can see how ridiculous that is, but it’s not that different from the previous differentiation from reality. I have had next to no desire to go back to Florida, but I have none now, not even TPC Sawgrass. Taking Disney’s self governance away so you can pay for it? Black Little Mermaid was that traumatizing? It used to be Florida for the no state tax, and I got it, you cheap assholes that don’t want to contribute to society. Now that it means announcing yourself as a racist, ignorant, white supremacist haven, how much do you like Ronnie Dangerous now?

The origins of jazz, the 4/4 timing of most pop music and most famously rock ‘n’ roll are from Congo Square in New Orleans where on Sundays many African Americans would gather to play music together. We owe them all a debt of gratitude for the tremendous art that followed in their footsteps. Robert Johnson famously sold his soul at the crossroads to play guitar the way he did, but he was one of many. There was a great northern migration up the Mississippi to Kansas City and Chicago by these musicians to escape the nightmare of the racist south, but the music spread far wider than that.

The British liked it so much that they perfected it before we had a chance to. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Who, Queen, Black Sabbath, and dare I say, Oasis. This isn’t an indictment on America, the music is for everyone, but they own the ‘classic rock’ era and it’s not even close. Maybe I was inconsiderate to not include U2, but I didn’t want to escalate tensions in the region, because they are up there too. Where would I be without my first musical memory on State St. being, ‘Where the Streets have No Name.’

The Beatles were something to everyone, because the songs were so damn likable. My perspective on them is skewed by that a bit, and, ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’ isn’t my bag. However, when they started doing psychedelics and ‘expanding’ their horizons, that’s when they got me. My favorite Beatles song is, ‘Taxman’ for the Harrison guitar solo, but ‘Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds’ has to be a close second. When I see things like Paul McCartney and Dave Grohl teaming up to make, ‘Band on the Run’ happen at The White House, I know my music isn’t dead.

‘Mick and the boys makin’ some noise.’ I heard this quip from an old timer at my college job, and upon consideration there isn’t a bigger understatement of their significance that I have ever heard. I wanted to tell him, ‘Gimme Shelter’ but I don’t think he would have gotten the reference. The Rolling Stones have now transcended centuries and are for me, the definition of Rock’n’Roll. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have formed this unshakable core to their band and songwriting with many others swapping in and out. Make no mistake, The Rolling Stones are the greatest rock band of all time.

Every amateur guitarist almost inevitably starts by learning as much of, ‘Stairway to Heaven’ as they can. Jimmy Page is a genius, and it was as if he had a classic riff in every pocket of a pair of jeans with very deep pockets. Led Zeppelin is an institution in rock and will be forever. The talent level of every member of the band may never be matched again, even in so called, ‘super groups.’ ‘Over the Hills and Far Away’ is my favorite of their songs, but there are at least 15 more that you might change your road speed or volume due to the induced adrenaline.

I’ve seen it written that, ‘My Generation’ is the most covered song of all time and I’m not surprised. Released in 1965, it has had a few generations to resonate with. The Who, and by the way, what a great name. The Who were the loudest and ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ is classic anthem of protest that is sometimes mis-interpreted as a conservative statement. ‘YEAH!’ There just isn’t anything like that scream anymore. We used to play, ‘Baba O’Riley’ in our college band, so the memory will never leave me of replicating that Daltrey/Townsend magic.

This is not an anti-American post, merely a statement of fact that when it comes to Rock’n’Roll, we have to give it to the British. It’s like the Italians with food, or the French with dropping rifles, sometimes you just have to stand in amazement and not hate the greatest. The best thing that any of this gave me was the influence that made Oasis, and Noel Gallagher, so I could pick up a guitar and mess about myself. As he says, ‘We’re All Part of the Masterplan.’

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