Progress Queens issues endorsements in New York governor race, ballot proposals

Hawkins is endorsed over Cuomo

On ballot proposals, voting no on fake redistricting reform Progress Queens has endorsed Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate, for governor of New York. The endorsement praises Hawkins's plans "to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, to roll out a single-payer health care program for all New Yorkers, and to support a clean energy plan that would create new jobs in a clean energy system, amongst other proposals." Progress Queens also applauds Hawkins' unconditional opposition to hydrofracking. On Proposal One, regarding redistricting, Progress Queens recommends a vote of NO. On Proposal Two, regarding electronic distribution of legislative bills, Progress Queens recommends a vote of YES. On Progress Three, the debt financing of computer equipment for schools, Progress Queens recommends a vote of NO.

RELATED For Governor of New York, Progress Queens endorses Howie Hawkins (Progress Queens) On New York Ballot Proposals One, Two, and Three, the Progress Queens endorsements (Progress Queens) Michael Hayes, LMT, has practiced massage for more than 20 years as a licensed massage therapist in New York City.

2014 Cadillac ELR Coupe : "Rogue" French-Bashing Commercial Adds to GM Woes (UPDATED)

PUBLISHED : FRI, 14 FEB 2014, 04:06 PM
UPDATED : FRI, 11 APR 2014, 01:35 PM

The American carmaker General Motors has resorted to bashing French citizens for their unique culture in the new "Work Hard" TV commercial for the 2014 Cadillac ELR Coupe hybrid. Neal McDonough, who stars in the controversial new Cadillac commercial, mocks French cafés, the French family values sensibility that places a special importance on the annual summer vacation, and France's emphasis on quality of life. The commercial implies that the French do not work hard at all, nor are the French capable of accomplishing major scientific breakthroughs, like landing on the moon -- an example of "American exceptionalism." Meanwhile, the truth is that the French invented each of aviation, motion pictures, and antibiotics ; they revolutionized astronomy and statistics ; and a Frenchman created the first digital form of writing, Braille, amongst many other notable breakthroughs. Indeed, René Lorin, a Frenchman, invented the ramjet, a supersonic jet engine that allowed later jets to travel at speeds between Mach 3 and Mach 6. Mr. McDonough does not ever identify France in the commercial as the target of his scorn, but the litany of his generalizations and stereotypes unmistakably points to France, and, as if to remove all doubt, at the end of his rant, he asks with a knowing wink, "N'est-ce pas ?"

Adding to the controversy, this commercial has been being broadcast during the karmically-doommed Sochi Winter Olympics, the latter which has become the target of global protests over the violent anti-LGBT crackdown taking place in Russia under President Vladimir Putin.

(An earlier YouTube video of the Cadillac commercial, which went viral after TV viewers become outraged by the discriminatory commercial's theme, was mysteriously censored removed from YouTube. A replacement video was subsequently also censored removed from YouTube.)

• RELATED : Google Changes Sochi Olympics Home Page To Protest Russia's Violent Anti-LGBT Crackdown
• RELATED : Is it time for Greenlight Capital to short stock of Sochi Olympic Sponsors ?

Mr. McDonough, who stars in the Cadillac ELR Coupe hybrid commercial, is a handsome and charismatic actor, who has attracted widespread goodwill in Hollywood for his roles in movies, like Captain America : The First Avenger, in which he played Dum Dum Dugan. How much goodwill will it personally cost Mr. McDonough with his fans for having made this controversial commercial ? What's been the reputational risk ?

Social ills, like de facto discrimination, are usually based on ignorance. It's not known why U.S. networks on broadcast and cable TV would accept money in exchange for airing this commercial, given the controversial use of harmful and stupid generalizations of the French. For GM's part, that ignorance is all the more clear. The luxury automaker brand of Cadillac was named after a French explorer, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. It's unknown whether GM's advertising executives are even educated about how the new French-bashing Cadillac TV commercial actually attacks the company's namesake's own homeland ?

Perhaps in a wink and a nod to their Red State-minded target customers, the controversial Cadillac commercial was produced by a new advertising outfit known as Rogue, an Interpublic Group of Cos. team reporting to the following GM executives : Bob Ferguson, vice president of Global Cadillac ; Craig Bierley, Cadillac's advertising director ; and Steven Majoros, a former Campbell Ewald advertising agency executive now at Cadillac, according to a pre-commercial review of Cadillac's marketing team by Advertising Age. The advertising agency Campbell Ewald had previously done work for GM for its Chevrolet unit. Adweek provides the complete credits for the controversial Cadillac commercial.

That GM is integrating cultural contempt and bullying of the French in its new Cadillac commercial is a new low for the once great carmaker. Once the largest automobile manufacturer in the world, GM has since yielded that title to Toyota. In the wake of this "identity crisis" for GM, it's now developed a dubious track record of making commercials that have been judged to be controversial at best and racist at worst. The commercial for the 2013 Chevrolet Trax subcompact crossover was called racist over its use of a controversial Chinese soundtrack.

GM further sparked controversy when some politicians questioned whether the automaker was deliberately underpaying its new CEO, Mary Barra, because she is a woman. Institutionalised de facto discrimination runs rampant at GM. Whether you are French, Chinese, female, Black, or belong to a union, it seems that the troubled automaker is intent on insulting your equality.

Maybe GM wouldn't have such a hard time selling cars to people, if it first learned to treat people with dignity and respect. Compris ?

Fast Food Workers Boo Christine Quinn at Living Wage August 29 Union Square Closing Rally

@stopchrisquinn Christine Quinn got the crap booed out of her at the fast food strike closing rally at union square #829strike

— A People's History (@PeoplesHistory) August 29, 2013

Christine Quinn just got booed off the stage at #829Strike

— OWS People's Puppets (@Power2thePuppet) August 29, 2013

.@Quinn4NY watered down #livingwage until it helps only 500 ppl. http://t.co/JeiTCNXUf6 @zarafa @USRealityCheck @Power2thePuppet #829Strike

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) August 30, 2013

For New Yorkers, Having a Job No Longer Guarantees a Paycheck

For employees of restaurants, even trendy ones, having a job doesn't mean that you will get paid.

In January 2010, The New York Times reported that the popular Vietnamese restaurant Saigon Grill was facing allegations of "harassing and firing workers who protested age discrimination and expressed support for joining a union." These were the second set of labour violations against Saigon Grill.

In 2008, "... Saigon was forced to pay $4.6 million to its deliver workers, after a federal judge found that the owners at the time, Simon and Michelle Nget, regularly violated minimum-wage and overtime laws, paying their employees as little as $1.65 an hour," reported the Columbia Spectator.

All across New York City, restaurant employees were not getting paid. Employees of Flor de Mayo, Tomo Sushi, Vine Sushi and Sake, and Ollies, a popular restaurant with multiple locations, had to resort to legal action to collect their due wages.

Many of the restaurants, which owed employees millions in unpaid wages, filed for bankruptcy.

Many restaurant employees were not paid overtime, and the hourly wages that they were paid were "well below legal limits."

It's not known, but it was suspected, that the bankruptcy filings were a way for the restaurants to try to avoid making full payment of the back wages rightfully owed to their employees. Bankruptcy reorganisations allow companies to continue operating whilst they try to restructure or renegotiate their debts.

Restaurant employees, who work as deliverymen, are often immigrants with low occupational skills or language barriers, and many probably believe that they have no choice but to put up with the wage fraud by their employers. Some of the employees were "required to work 11 to 13 hours a day, usually six days a week," The New York Times reported, for example. Deliverymen at Saigon Grill were found to have been paid approximately $2 an hour. In their work situation, it would be easy for unscrupulous employers to exploit vulnerable employees.

Employees at popular New York City restaurants are not the only ones, who are risk of not getting paid their due wages.

What would have happened to the wage dynamic in New York City, had Wal-Mart been allowed to set up some of its huge stores here ?

Recently, a new labour movement was launched around employees at fast food restaurants, too. All this talk brings us to the issue : what is a "living wage" ?

Just because you might have a restaurant job in some of New York City's most busiest restaurants, it doesn't necessarily mean that you can count on your rightfully complete paycheck, much less a living wage.

What does this say about our economy, if the success of some businesses are premised on finding ways to seriously underpay their employees ?

The information about Saigon Grill and Ollies was from 2008 to 2010. Earlier this year, five locations of East Japanese Restaurants agreed to a court settlement for underpayment of and backwages to 225 current and former waiters, runners, and bussers for $1.25 million.

Are service industry employees being routinely exploited ?

Everybody Is Worried That Christine Quinn Will Probably Defeat The Living Wage Bill

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn refuses to support the Living Wage Bill, just like she squashed the Paid Sick Leave Bill, because she is in bed with special interest groups that oppose the middle class.

The Poverty in America blog has exposed the reason why Speaker Christine Quinn would not endorse the Paid Sick Leave Bill and why Speaker Quinn also opposes the Living Wage Bill : both laws are being targeted for defeat by a shady anti-middle class group calling itself the 5 Boro Chamber Alliance.

The 5 Boro Chamber Alliance was formed in 2009 to take down the Paid Sick Leave Bill, and now it is reportedly organising a political campaign to defeat the Living Wage Bill.

The Poverty in America blog is worried that the Living Wage Bill will be defeated the same way as the Paid Sick Leave Bill was defeated : each were opposed by Speaker Quinn.

''Quinn's silence isn't random; she's declined to take a position on either bill because of pressure from the city's business interests. One of the main business groups that spoke out against paid sick leave was the 5 Boro Chamber Alliance, a group of chambers of congress from around the city,'' reported the Poverty in America blog.

Based on her history, more and more people are worried that we can't count on Speaker Quinn to do the right thing. ''We know what her position was on the paid sick leave bill and how mindful she has been not to cross the business community as she plans a run for mayor in 2013. Let's hope this time the speaker will think first and foremost of the well-being of the great majority of New Yorkers,'' wrote Albor Ruiz from The New York Daily News.