tipping the scales

Oh, California. I hear your call. Here I am, buckling down in Buenos Aires, preparing all my resistence for the 6 months of sweltering heat that I will have to endure as punishment for not being a big fan of my adopted country and government. Then suddenly, like peeling bells of joy, comes the news that Donald Rumsfeld was either given, or snatched his own walking papers. ¿Qué importa? Está caminando. And the dems are coming out strong like nothing ever happened. Was it all a bad dream? Have I been taking crazy pills for the last five years?

Had I known the American public had been eating their Wheaties for breakfast, maybe I wouldn't have committed to move to a killer new apartment and hunker down here for much longer. This news is thrilling, though not quite enough to send me running back to the US. Yet.

Why? It seems that the part of the US that still interests me most, Santa Barbara, despite knowing where it's political bread is buttered, is still as NUTSO as ever. And speaking of crazy pills, you'd think someone with Wendy McCaw's money would have someone on hand to stop her from making stupid, illegal decisions. No such luck. Apparently the NewsPress isn't happy with just taking a giant shit. They gotta get right in there and play with it too.

(Insert giant sigh here) This really is just getting silly.

I attach below the link to Melinda Burns' petition. Read, sign, CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS, and watch more BBC. In that order.

Petition to Reinstate Melinda Burns

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

To: All Media
From: The organized at SBNP

Today, the GCC-IBT filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National
Labor Relations Board in Los Angeles against the News- Press, challenging
the paper's retaliatory and unlawful discharge of Ms. Melinda Burns. Her
firing is perhaps the most extreme example to date of the continuing
campaign by the News-Press management to discourage and frustrate the
collective voice of its newsroom staff, so eloquently and clearly expressed
a month ago.

In a perverse if futile move intended to strike fear into its own newsroom,
the Santa Barbara News-Press late Friday fired Senior Writer Melinda Burns,
one of its most experienced, skilled and dedicated reporters in retaliation
for her prominence in the union campaign leading to an election victory on
September 27.

This latest example of vindictive and lawless labor relations at the
News-Press shows shocking disrespect for Burns's following and her sparkling
reputation in the Santa Barbara community, and for the sweat equity she has
earned over more than two decades of reporting.

It is transparently obvious that Ms. Burns was fired because of her
prominent public role - well-known to News-Press upper management - in
introducing the newsrooom staff to the Graphics Communications Conference of
the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (GCC-IBT) and then helping to
lead the campaign for union representation to an overwhelming victory, 33-6,
on September 27.

Ms. Burns, a graduate of Harvard University and USC, has been with the
News-Press for 21 years. During that time, she has won numerous prestigious
awards for her in-depth coverage of farmworkers, immigration, science and
the environment. Most recently, Ms. Burns took first place in the Best of
the West contest for immigration and minority affairs reporting, in
competition against newspapers of all sizes in 13 states.

In a May, 2005, article in the News-Press proudly reporting on her
achievement, her editor said, "Melinda's work demonstrates our commitment to
provide excellent local coverage that mirrors all of our county's
communities." In 2004, Ms. Burns was awarded a "Pinnacle of Excellence "
National Science Journalism Award by the American Association for the
Advancement of Science. In 2002, she received a Special Journalism Award
from the Santa Barbara League of Women Voters, honoring her for in-depth
reporting and high journalistic standards.

Over the years, Ms. Burns has obtained more than $30,000 in private and
state grants to carry out various investigative projects for the News-Press.
Most recently, she directed the "New Okies" photography exhibit that was on
view for eight months this year in Santa Barbara County, documenting the
plight of the Mixtec strawberry pickers in Santa Maria.

In filing an unfair labor practice charge today on behalf of Ms. Burns, the
GCC-IBT requests that the NLRB seek her reinstatement with full back pay and
promptly investigate and prosecute the News-Press for this latest violation
and the string of others that preceded it. In addition, the union asks the
Board to seek injunctive relief in the federal district court to compel the
News-Press to do what it disingenuously says in its press releases it will
do (but in reality does the opposite): that is, cooperate with the NLRB,
honor that agency's and this nation's labor laws and heed the
emphatically-declared mandate of its employees who wish to collectively
bargain with their employer for a fair employment contract.

even gauchitos get the blues

Since Paul is working on a story about gauchos for a certain, beloved small town rag we took off this weekend for the Día de la tradicción just 90 minutes north of Buenos Aires in sleepy San Antonio de Areco. We had a great day on Saturday sucking rare meat off the bones of freshly killed cow, watching the rodeo style events, and getting a better idea of modern gaucho culture and how it differs from the days of Martín Fierro.

Here are some timeless gaucho images to hold you over until there is more to read but I am sure Paul is working hard on all the sumptuous details as I type. We all need to get a little gaucho sometimes.