Links to Daylight’s Rescue

This year, I’m actually happy about Daylight Savings Time: I’ve been waking up half an hour before my alarm, due to the excessive sunlight, and it’s time for that to stop. So this morning I woke up abruptly to loud beeps, instead of gradually to the dawn; cha-CHING! As a result, I’m feeling all linky today.

Music!

The Air Force Wind Ensembles have free mp3s, including Johan de Meij’s Lord of the Rings symphony (which I’ve been chasing for quite some time) and a whole buncha other stuff I remember (fondly or not) from high school. Thus far I’ve only really heard this stuff performed by the kind of band that was willing to have me as a member, it’s nice to hear it done by professionals. Via MeFi.

Unions!

They’re in trouble again, says Henry Farrell. This time, from a set of regulations designed to make it difficult for them to operate as a political force and behave more transparently, where “transparent” will certainly be taken by the current administration to mean “smushed to ineffectiveness by any means necessary”. I find myself in partial agreement with some commentators that unions should be subject to extra scrutiny if (and only if) membership is a condition for employment, and regulations to that effect could plausibly be a good idea… but (1) I don’t know enough about such wonky shit to judge yet and more importantly (2) what kind of fool trusts the Bush administration to act in good faith when regulating a classic stronghold of the opposing party?

Henry argues that [i]f blogs can organize a boycott against Sinclair Communications, and can play an important role in pushing back against efforts to destroy Social Security, then they can certainly do something to help fight against this. – which is a pretty fuckin’ ginormous “if”. I don’t expect blogs to do more for the labor movement than they did for Kerry’s campaign. In fact, I expect less, because the big-name liberal bloggers are still too busy puffing up their place in Social Security wonkdom to give labor issues more than the briefest of occasional nods.

What have I read recently on labor issues that hasn’t filled me with cynicism and ennui? The story of the Coalition of Immolakee Workers. Operating without federal recognition, they organized (and won!) a boycott against Taco Bell, to get tomato suppliers to increase tomato-pickers’ pay. Rad Geek People’s Daily has a good account of the effort (with special coverage for libertarianistes). If The Powers That Be want to render conventional labor organizations irrelevant and ineffective, well, it behooves us to start looking at unconventional organizations.

Friends with blogs!

Tiny Purple Elephant is now one such, and with super fabulosity!