New template

Hope everyone likes the new template. I tinkered around a bit this evening because I was tired with the old look. It was a pain in the ass (HTML is not my strong suit) and there is more tinkering I want to do, but it's a start. The old look had overstayed it's welcome...

...In other news, glad to see the NYC transit strike come to a close. I have a lot to say on this but I'm not feeling up to the task of giving a full rundown. Instead, I'll give a little summary of how I feel about it and about leftist politics in general.

First and foremost, I'm not a leftist. I definitely lean to the left, but radical politics are not favored in my house of reason. I'm pragmatic. I don't expect war to miraculously disappear. I don't expect poverty to go away simply because of the government dole. Alternatively, I don't believe that we should live in a society where it's lawful to discriminate since the "free market" would regulate racism just like everything else. Nor do I believe that the Radical Right Christian Crazies are going to shut up and go away. Like it or not, America has just as many totally crazy nuts on both the Left and the Right and they're equally terrifying.

That being said, one area of constant contention I take with the leftist elements of the the Democratic party is their undying, unquestioned allegiance to all things unions. I do believe that unions have served our nation greatly in the past and still have a valuable role to play. However, that does not mean that every time a union goes on strike that Democrats should feel compelled to give kneejerk support. That type of reaction reveals the weakness of allegience to party politics and opens Democrats to easy attacks from the Right. Instead, the facts should be considered on a case by case basis. And in this case, the best I can tell, the facts are being manipulated by both sides.

I was going to delve into the specific merits of this case. Maybe tomorrow. What I will say is that it's very clear that the Union acheived absolutely nothing and, when all is said and done, will probably suffer crippling punishment that will weaken their cause in the long run. I can't say I'm happy about that, but I can say that it's no surprise.

I'll also state, as a general principle, that I fundamentally object to the idea that MTA employees should have the right to retire at the age of 55 with a full pension. I can't think of a single other industry that has that right. In fact, compared to a lot of other relatively low skilled industries, MTA employees appear to have it pretty well.

Another thing that must be said is that this strike was not about working conditions. I've read in some places around the blogosphere that the workers were striking for better conditions, equal rights, respect, honor, etc. None of that is true. In fact, if the conditions were entirely deplorable (which, having never ridden the NYC metro, I can't comment on) and they were striking to improve those conditions, then I would clearly be supporting their cause. But they weren't and everybody knows it. The TWU walked out on negotiations because they protested the MTAs proposed changes in benefits for future MTA employees. That's it.

Pick better leaders next time because this strike didn't do jack squat for MTA workers and might have just cost them the chance at future leverage...

...In other news, more evidence that the death penalty is objectionable.