Everyday Erinyes

 Posted by at 10:15 pm  Politics
Feb 052016
 

I have a few items this week which seem to me to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with it. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as "unceasing," "grudging," and "vengeful destruction."

I have left out the water in Flint, MI, because that made such a stir that I expect you are already on to those people.  I have left out the seditious militants because I am confident you are on to them and indeed have already got some action from a grand jury (good going there).  I have also left out the "pharma bro" who seems to be digging his own grave.  Although any or all of these could possibly resurface in the future, they seem for now to be getting handled.

I do want to draw attention to what happened to Melissa Harris-Perry in Iowa.  A journalist with a news-opinion show on MSNBC, a professor of political science at Wake Forest, and an author, she was there, with students, to experience the caucuses.  She was sitting in the hotel lobby, eyes glued to the TV, when suddenly this guy was standing next to her.

When he started he speaking it was like he was picking up in the middle of sentence, finishing a conversation we had begun earlier, but I couldn’t remember ever meeting him.

“…So what is it that you teach?”

“I am a professor of political science.”

“My wife is a professor of communications.”

“Does she teach here in Iowa?”

“What I want to know is how you got credentialed to be on MSNBC.”

I am not sure if it is how he spat the word credentialed, or if it is how he took another half step toward me, or if it is how he didn’t respond to my question, but the hairs on my arm stood on end. I ignored it. Told myself everything was ok.

“Well. It is not exactly a credential…” I began.

“But why you? Why would they pick you?”

Now I know something is wrong. Now his voice is angry. Now a few other people have stopped talking and started staring. Now he is so close I can feel his breath. Before I can answer his unanswerable question of why they picked me, he begins to tell me why he has picked me.

“I just want you to know why I am doing this.”

Oh – there is a this. He is going to do a this. To me. And he is going to tell me why.

She jumped up and put a table between him and her.  Her friend jumped and put herself between them.  They raised their voices, starting to make a fuss.  The man ran out, jumped in a car, and drove off.  They spoke with hotel security, who listened politely, "but this is the Iowa caucus, and I am not a candidate, so they go back to their evening. And we go back to ours." 

This sounds like grudging to me.  Particularly “But why you? Why would they pick you?”  Perhaps, Megaera, you can find this – person – for counseling.  And, if you have time, stop off at Breitbart, who loudly dismissed and mocked her story (Republican not linked).  Thanks much.

Then, Tisiphone, I suspect you will be interested in the management of Tyson Foods in Arkansas.  Tyson comes in for a lot of flack over the way it treats chickens inhumanely, and the way it overfeeds them antibiotics, but this isn't about the chickens.  This is about the workers.

According to an email from the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee,

A stunning 91% of surveyed poultry workers reported having no earned sick leave, and almost two-thirds reported working while sick. More than half of these workers said they experienced discrimination, a very troubling statistic for a workforce made up mostly of first- and second-generation immigrants, as well as minority workers from the United States.

 Women, in particular, cited gender discrimination in the way bathroom breaks are withheld by male supervisors. Some have even urinated on themselves because they were not granted breaks when needed.

Well, OK, maybe it is about the chickens too.  That last sentence can't have improved anyone's appetite, even for non-Vegans.  But I primarily was thinking of the vengeful destruction of the human spirit when you make people pee themselves to keep their jobs.  I suspect a lot of these women are mothers, incidentally.  Giving birth can be rough on the sphincters.

The stockholders' meeting was yesterday, and a Twitter/Facebook Thunderclap was planned.  Not being on either, I don't know how it went, but, I hope well.

Finally, Alecto, I don't even know whether there is anything you can really do about the uncea$ing issues of privatization, prisons, and immigrants; although if anyone can, it's you.  ITPI ("In the Public Interest") exists to study and bring to light the specific ills of privatization, which always ends up costing taxpayers more money for less service, while lining the pockets of people rich enough to own an empire to provide the private "service."  Immigration is no exception.  And whenever pri$on is a part of a cycle, and exists to make money, the stakeholders develop a vested interest in keeping people in them to make more and more money.  But, as this graphic shows, there are a lot more people making money from prisons than just prisons.  This contributes more and more to make the cycle never-ending – unceasing.

I think it speaks for itself.  If you need to see it larger to read it you can easily click through.  It does try to distinguish between civil offenders, who are offenders by just being here, and criminal offenders, who have actually committed a crime.  In practice, I don't know.

Alecto, Megaera, Tisiphone, and I will be back next time.  Whenever that is.  Meantime, we wish everyone perfect blood pressure.

 

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  9 Responses to “Everyday Erinyes”

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  1. Megaera: What happened to Professor Harris-Perry should have never happened, what a frightening experience!! Security should have stepped in, (as they have cameras everywhere now), and found this guy immediately. Those that express hatred and actions such as his, should be detained, as his behavior will escalate, imho.

    Tisiphone: I sure hope that the meeting brought awareness to the shareholders of what these workers are enduring on a daily basis. Supporters154 of 100. Social Reach 94,230. I don't buy Tyson at all, for a couple years now because of their treatment of chickens. But now…if they can't treat their workers decently, first and foremost, then I will encourage my family members not to buy Tyson either.

    Alecto: With each revolution of the door, regarding immigrants, those shareholders get richer and richer by the 'services' they provide. I don't think they care either, as Money talks. BigTime!

    Thank you, Joanne for your great post.

  2. Wow!  Plenty of Furies Fodder indeed!

    Ms. Harris-Perry 's experience exemplifies why having opportunity and making good from it doesn't protect you from being treated as less equal by citizens and those with responsibilities for public safety.

  3. Megaera: This man's threatening behavior was certainly fueled by begrudging, but begrudging of what? That MSNBC picked Harris-Perry to do a news-opinion show instead of his wife? That they had picked her because she was a woman? Because she was a black woman? Because she was not right-leaning enough? Harris-Perry will never know and neither will we. But it must have been very scary.

    : It's not really surprising that a company that cares so little for chickens (inhumane treatment) and their customer's health (antibiotics overfeed) also cares little or nothing about their employers (mostly of first- and second-generation immigrants, as well as minority workers from the US), it is all to obvious that they only care for the money they make. But having women wet themselves because they weren't allowed a bathroom break and having employers work while they were sick is both inhumane and breaking all kinds of work regulations as well as health regulations. The trouble with this is that when this gets out, people and fast-food chains may stop buying the chickens altogether, leaving the workers without a job instead of with better working conditions. Tisiphone will have to tread very lightly on this one.

    Alecto: It does speak for itself, doesn't it. The more "services" are privatized in the chain, the more management of these services will push for (illegal) immigrants to be picked up and detained. No wonder Republicans are so dead set against Obama's immigration law and amnesty: each immigrant given a pardon and allowed to stay is one less source of income for dozens of stakeholders.

  4. Thank you for covering the Republican attack on Perry.  I almost did.

    And I just ate aq chicken sandwich! crying

    Horrid system!

    • Thank YOU!  I thought since you hadn't by Friday I would be safe from stepping on your paws.  I still eat chicken – but you'd better believe I cook it myself – and keep all that stiuff in mind – and don't buy the Tyson brand, though I suppose there's not much difference.

      • Foster Farms dominates this area and has local operations providing jobs so other than in the frozen food section, I don't see Tyson labels.

  5. I expect the attack on Perry was based on her not being pure white, and that the jackass was about to attack her physically.

    Tyson foods: Glad I do not knowingly buy their stuff.

    Any prison privatization sucks!

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