As we write this, it’s the beginning of December in 2011—close to the end of the most encouraging fall those of us in the United States have seen in a really long time. We are referring, of course, to Occupy Wall Street and its numerous offspring across the country. The Occupy Movement has brought hundreds of thousands on to the streets and, while its ultimate political goals remain undeveloped, its most heartening dimensions include an explicit recognition of class as a central structuring principle of American society and a return of the vocabulary of revolution to political conversations. From what we have heard, a good number of the individuals who were members of the Taxi Rank & File Coalition have been participating in the current movement and we look forward to posting their observations about that involvement.

We are reluctant to suggest that what we were part of back then has automatic relevance to the needs of today’s new movement but we are hopeful that this website can serve as a source of inspiration and as a reference point for the discussions and decisions that will need to be made to sustain and expand the Occupy Movement.

It is therefore a fitting time for us to publicly launch this website. Although its current contents are largely materials that document what the Coalition did several decades ago, we are hopeful that it can become a place where new discussions concerning the key issues that the Coalition faced can take place.

Those issues involve important matters regarding the possibilities of building and sustaining political groups that can enable their members to grow and feel fulfilled. Those matters include: 1) ways to develop individuals’ capacities; 2) the structuring of productive debates within a member-friendly organization; 3) the recognition of the need to make difficult decisions while maintaining organizational cohesiveness and 4) maintaining a sense of humor.

They also concern the nature of unions and collective bargaining contracts; the potentials and limits of militant rank and file movements fighting for democracy within unions; the form and content of daily workplace struggles; the relationship of insurgent worker movements to the struggles of non-white communities and the relationship of political movements inside the United States to those elsewhere.

We hope the site can maintain the diversity of perspectives, humor, and openness about our weaknesses that characterized the Taxi Rank & File in its best moments.

As you’ll see, the site currently contains all the issues of the group’s newspaper, its songbook, a number of reflections on various moments, episodes and issues, some flyers and other publications (including our most substantial pamphlet, Taxi at the Crossroads), and some recollections about the lives and deaths of members who have passed on.

There is more to come—sections on the group’s changing views on its relationship to the union and its participation in union elections, more accounts about members’ perception of what it meant to be in Rank & File and what it meant for their lives in the years since. We hope to be adding new materials twice a month for the foreseeable future.

This front page is designed as a blog—meaning that those who have been invited to be contributors can post freely about topics that concern them. At the moment, we have invited all of the members (for whom we have email addresses) to become contributors. There are members we have not been able to track down so if people who were Coalition members come across the website and have not been invited, please get in touch and we’ll remedy the situation.

Many others who were connected to the Coalition in a variety of ways will be invited to become followers and will receive regular notifications when new material is added to the site. Followers and others who visit the site are welcome to submit posts for review and approval. In addition, anyone is able to post comments in response to blog posts.

John Garvey (for the Taxi Rank and File Web Group)

Saturday December 10, 2011 2:00 PM
SF Main Library Latino-Hispanic Room A
100 Larkin St. San Francisco
Next To Civic Center Bart Station

The growing Occupation movement expresses the anger of millions of working people,unemployed and the homeless, youth, students and retirees. It has been built as a democratic vehicle where people can speak out at daily assemblies. The call for a general strike in Oakland and the shutdown on the docks show that direct action has power and the 30,000 people who marched saw their power on the docks.

There are 1.5 million public workers in California from many unions and all are under attack from their working conditions, wages, healthcare and benefits as well as assaults on retirees. Additionally senior workers are being targeted for discharge and transit workers and other workers who speak out for health and safety are being retaliated against and discharged. An epidemic of privatization of public services and education is gaining momentum supported by the politicians that our unions have supported. We need to unite all 1.5 million and take collective action as workers in Europe and around the world have done to defend their rights.

The concession bargaining and give-backs along with reliance on Democratic politicians from Ed Lee, Jean Quan, Jerry Brown and Obama has been a disaster. It is time to unite all public workers and work with the ILWU rank and file and other trade unionists to build a movement for a general strike statewide and nationally along with the formation of a democratic workers party with a real program to deal with this crisis. We need to act and organize now to unite with the Occupy movement and build a democratic labor movement that will fight for all working people.

Sponsored By
United Public Workers For Action UPWA
www.upwa.info
(415)867-0628 (510)510-233-5820

What do you think?

http://wp.me/p1OGRw-T

1.     Per the original CAPS Policy File, CAPS contracts with the labor consulting firm, Blanning and Baker (B & B).

2.     The Chief Financial Officer of B & B is Mr. Matt Austin.  The approximately 2500 members of CAPS contributes $800k per year to B & B’s coffers.

3.     Blanning and Baker are also the labor consultants for Professional Engineers of California Government (PECG), which has 13,000 members.  Assuming dues of $50 per month, B & B receives $7,800,000.00 from PECG.  The founder of Blanning and Baker, Bruce Blanning, was previously a state engineer.  He is the Executive Director of PECG.

4.     All CAPS office employees are Blanning and Baker employees.  Their names can be found on the Blanning and Baker webpage.

5.     The rights of representation of CAPS members are conferred by the Ralph Dills Act.  The agency responsible for enforcement of provisions of the Dills Act is the Public Employees Relations Board (PERB).

6.     CAPS is also a Non-profit Mutual Benefit Corporation governed by the California Corporations Code.  The agency responsible for enforcement of this code includes the Office of the Attorney General and the Superior Court (county of primary corporation office).

7.     Chain-of-command:  Blanning and Baker report to the CAPS elected president.  The contract CAPS has with Blanning and Baker is reviewed-approved by the CAPS elected board.  CAPS can terminate Blanning and Baker if they so choose.

8.     The CAPS bylaws are intentionally hidden:  CAPS intentionally hides their bylaws and policy file documents while other unions post them on the union webpage.  These documents are the rights the members have with their union.  These documents were previously posted on the password-protected part of the CAPS webpage, but have since gone missing after members began scrutinizing them.  The explanation given by a Blanning and Baker employee for not displaying them is that “the union business is competitive.” The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) document that is posted on the CAPS webpage does not address the rights members have with CAPS/Blanning and Baker, only the rights members have with their employer.

9.     CAPS site reps are appointed, not elected:  Per the bylaws, site reps are handpicked by the CAPS board, not elected.

10.  Failure to hold member meetings (previous bylaws requirement):  The previously required (prior to 2011 revision of bylaws) annual meeting of the members never occurred.  These would have been formal meetings, with set agenda, and documented minutes.  Instead, the only meetings CAPS members have participated in have been “informational meetings”, no minutes documenting your voice-concerns for other members across the state to hear or read.  The revised (March, 2011) bylaws have removed the requirement of a yearly meeting for the members.  Blanning and Baker staff cite logistical challenges of an annual meetings as CAPS members are distributed throughout the state.

11.  Circulating petitions not possible:  CAPS has no petition procedure and the CAPS board and B & B staff have made it clear they do not support one.  In a recent email communication, Treasurer David Miller stated, “If you want a petition circulated, it is YOUR job to do it, not CAPS staff. In fact, if I find that our staff is assisting anyone to circulate petitions, I would find THAT to be a serious error.”  It should be noted that SEIU has a procedure for circulating petitions.  In the words of the B & B Staff Director “CAPS has that language (petition option) in its bylaws as a requirement of the California Corporations Code, on advice of counsel.  Every Mutual Benefit Non Profit Corporation (MBNPC), as CAPS is organized, should have it.  But that doesn’t mean the process is practical or that it would ever be used in an organization the size and shape of CAPS.”

12.  The holding of special meetings not possible:  The bylaws state that members can use a petition to call for a special meeting. To do so, members need 5% of the membership.  CAPS has no petition procedure.  CAPS will not help circulate a petition.  CAPS will not provide members with a membership list (not even work addresses).  The option to call a special meeting is non-existent.

13.  No recall elections:  The bylaws say members can recall elected officers by conducting a special meeting or petition.  As neither is possible, the option to hold a recall election is non-existent.

14.  Decertification not possible:  In violation of state law (enforced by PERB), CAPS members cannot decertify CAPS.  The state collective bargaining laws include a provision for members to decertify their union, and thus seeking representation from another union.  The state procedure requires a petition containing signatures of 30% of the membership.  The CAPS membership is divided into 5 districts throughout the state, each containing approximately 500 members, the locations of these members unknown.  The option to decertify is non-existent.

15.  Severance not possible:  CAPS members cannot seek severance from their union.  In violation of state law, a specific group of CAPS members cannot seek severance from CAPS as this can only be done via the circulation of a petition. The option to seek severance from CAPS is non-existent.

16.  Censoring of candidate statements:  CAPS censor’s election candidate statements by adding additional “censoring” language to the bylaws that EXCEEDS the candidate statement requirements of the governing California Corporations Code.  CAPS has added their own additional verbiage stating that a candidate statement cannot contain any information that could bring harm to CAPS.  This includes damaging facts regarding the conduct and performance of Blanning and Baker staff.   Unlike other CAPS bylaws provisions, this one item is STRICTLY ENFORCED as evidenced by recent sanitizing of statements of current candidates.  CAPS candidate statements were required to first be submitted to Blanning and Baker staff, instead of the CAPS election committee.  The election committee then reviews the statements.  Presumably, a lawyer is included in the review of these statements.  Presumably, the lawyer is an employee of Blanning and Baker.  Presumably, that lawyer would not be able to impartially review a candidate statement that calls for the termination of Blanning and Baker.

17.  Communication Blackout:  CAPS has ignored previous requests from members to add a mechanism of communication, such as an E-forum or list serve.

18.  CAPS funding of PACs:  In 2010, $530,600.00 (1/3 of CAPS dues) was paid to political campaigns by CAPS.  CAPS also gave $7,800.00 to Treasurer David Miller for his pursuit of a seat on the PERS board. 19.  “Independent” Financial audits:  The bylaws require these.  The treasurer, two weeks after being asked, now states they are being performed.  It is known that yearly audits are being performed by the “non-independent” Blanning and Baker bookkeeper.  Audits are also being performed by the “non-independent” CPAs, Kumpf and Leippe.  It is not known who is performing the “independent” audits.

20.  CAPS Lawsuit strategy:  Review of lawsuits filed by CAPS in past 20 years reveals a losing record.

Many Communists would traditionally have ignored the TUC congress this week.

However this one may prove of more interest. Debates will be had about pensions and jobs against a background of escalating industrial unrest as PCS, FBU, Teaching unions etc move to ballot for coordinated action. McCluskey for UNITE calls for civil disobedience. The TUC is actually backing the march at the Tory and Lib Dem conferences – even Barber is talking.

we can do so much more ourselves

This is a real challenge to the libertarian-left.

This IS the biggest wave of strike action for decades, building on the March demo and June strike. Student activists are back and angry with the possibility of further action. The riots demonstrated that there is anger growing – albeit unfocused in many urban communities.

The cuts are biting hard. A recent food programme on radio 4, for example, illustrated how more and more people are relying on food parcels, but this time not in big cities, but in Cornwall, Stroud, and Pontypridd.

The NHS reforms will see it sold off. Pension age is to be 67, pay cuts and redundancy grow, and in the meantime the Coalition carries on regardless. Before the strikes the sabres rattle as they threaten curbs on public sector strikes.

As such the challenge is how to support the growing mood. There is little doubt that it must be. The coalition still rides high in opinion polls, and the response to the riots was shockingly reactionary. The cuts, if successful, will devastate communities, and crush the labour movement. The battle must be won.

On a base level then, communists must build for action in their unions, anti-cuts groups, and communities. The case must be argued to support the strikes and the demos.

However, the importance of this cannot be left to union leaders. Strike committees should be set up in all towns and cities. Rank-and-files need forming – the Spark group is a good example.

As communists we should also be arguing that a one day strike is not enough. We need hard rolling action and longer strikes, non payment of rents and fuel bills. We should target firms using casuals, as well as agencies, banks, and all who seek to make money out of the recession.

The demands of the unions are vague and reformist. It is clear that a small concession may well be seized as a victory. Retire at 66, not 67, or pay 2 percent, not 4 percent, etc.

Communists should be pushing to keep ALL current terms and conditions. Indeed we should be exposing the paucity and timidity of even the most “left” unions. As I have argued before, why ARE we working harder and longer? Surely we should be arguing for less working, more leisure, pay rises that allow people to live with dignity, with pensions and retirement earlier, not later!

These are no doubt transitional demands, fine, let’s counterpoise them, and get the arguments running.

Finally, the libertarian-left need to get out there. Too often we stand on the sidelines to mock, scoff etc. Now is not the time. We need to get our ideas for a new communist society out there, not just in theory, but in practice.

We need rank-and-files, strike committees, and community defence groups, all based on horizontal structures and consensus decision making whenever possible. Let’s create spaces like drop in centres, and advice groups, and link up trade unionists with pensioner and unemployed groups. All groups should be accountable with recallable delegates. Where possible run communal food and clothe shares, and allotments. You all know the score…

Finally the example of ALARM in London needs to be followed every where. We need to link up more. There is not a libertarian-left weekly paper or large national organization. Let’s build both.

CAPS Fighting Union Caucus Rank and File Election Bulletin #6

www.capsfightingunioncaucus.wordpress.com

AUSTIN V RACHLIS

On labor day at 10 am CAPS Vice President Candidate Charles Rachlis was served with a temporary restraining order which will prevent him from attending to business at the CAPS office, from attending meetings where Blanning and Baker LLC (B&B) staffer Matt Austin and other named individuals are present. Matt Austin is seeking to make this restraining order permanent at a hearing this Friday September 9th at 9:00am at San Francisco Superior Court 400 McAllister St Rm 514. Working class and union activists, members and nonmembers of CAPS are invited to come and show support for our struggle against the corporate control of our union and for union democracy.

I went to the union office August 29th in order to examine the membership list as per California law, only to be physically blocked/assaulted at the door by B&B staffer Matt Austin, despite having noticed CAPS of my intent to on August 28th. For years every attempt to reach the membership to explain the conditions of our union and pass on the material we have accumulated has been blocked. Our struggle for our legal right to examine and copy the membership list has now turned into an attack on my personal integrity and rights in the guise of a restraining order.

This is part of an on going attempt to prevent our caucus from brining the violations of bylaws to the memberships attention.

My defense will address three issues. 1) Factual-the story concocted by Matt Austin has little to do with the reality of the situation and does not put the incident in a contextual setting. 2) Legal grounds-Under Code of Civil Procedure section 527.3, the court has no authority to issue injunctive relief against lawful free speech activity in connection with a labor dispute. This includes a dispute between the members and the staff of the union.

3) Political grounds: the role of B&B is playing has included prejudicing the president of the organization against myself in e-mails we have entered into the public record. The violations of bylaws and California Corporate code by Blanning and Baker’s staff as they are the executive director, have deprived the membership of an opportunity to discuss the strategy and tactics of the organization as it faced the worse attacks in its history over the course of the current and deepening economic crisis. Thus B&B act in the interest of the ruling 0.01% against the interests of state workers.

The CAPS union has been held captive by B&B, our membership has been denied our right to annual membership meetings for a decade, prevented from finding our co-workers across the state and engaging in democratic discussion, while our funds are funneled into the coffers of B&B, its favored law firms, lobbyists and politicians.

Our slate asks for support from workers both inside and outside our union because of the long term denial of our rights has prevented us from knowing our other members, who they are, where they work or how to talk with them.

Elect Will Wright President, Charles Rachlis Vice President Giorgio Cosentino Treasurer

Capsfightingunioncaucus

Please pass this information to those who support union democracy!

By Gary P Jackson

As you know, on Monday, while giving a speech with President Barack Obama, union thug leader Jimmy Hoffa, Jr screamed “We’re ‘Army’ Against Tea Party; ‘Let’s Take These Sons of Bitches Out’.“

This would be shocking if not for the fact that it’s standard fair for the thugs who run and manage unions. It’s not the rank and file, hell, most are union members simply because they live in slave states that force them to join a union in order to work. It’s the cost of having a job. And not all unions are run by thugs, but the vast majority are, and the most powerful are joined to Obama at the hip.

We’ve all seen how Obama has stolen from shareholders of car companies, only to give it to the unions, and how his justice department has harassed non-union shops. This is crony capitalism at it’s worst.

Today Sarah Palin addresses this by talking directly to union rank and file members, and reminding them thugs like Hoffa are living off their dues, without doing anything for them in return:

Welcome, Union Brothers and Sisters

In my speech on Saturday in Iowa, I said: “Between bailouts for Wall Street cronies and stimulus projects for union bosses’ security and ‘green energy’ giveaways, [Barack Obama] took care of his friends. And now they’re on course to raise a billion dollars for his re-election bid so that they can do it all over again.” This was shamefully on display yesterday at President Obama’s taxpayer-funded campaign rally in Detroit. In introducing the President, Teamsters President James Hoffa represented precisely what I was talking about as he declared war on concerned independent Americans and on the freshman members we sent to Congress last November by saying, “Let’s take these son-of-a-bitches out!”

What I say now, I say as a proud former union member and the wife, daughter, and sister of union members. So, as a former card-carrying IBEW sister married to a proud former Laborers, IBEW, and later USW member, please hear me out. What I have to say is for the hard working, patriotic, selfless union brothers and sisters in Michigan and throughout our country: Please don’t be taken in by union bosses’ thuggery like Jim Hoffa represented yesterday. Union bosses like this do not have your best interests at heart. What they care about is their own power and re-electing their friend Barack Obama so he will take care of them to the detriment of everyone else.

To the same degree Americans are concerned about irresponsible, greedy corporate execs who got cushy bonuses from taxpayer-funded bailouts, we should also be concerned about greedy union bosses who are willing to tank our economy just to protect their own power. As union history shows, power and greed corrupt. Just because you claim to represent union members doesn’t mean you are on the side of the angels. The greed of too many of these union bosses has all but destroyed the labor movement in this country, helped chase away our jobs, and is killing the American dream.

To see where this leads, look at what’s happening to the working class in our industrialized cities. These cities are going to hell in a hand basket thanks to corruption, crony capitalism, and the union bosses’ greed. The union bosses derive their power from your union dues and their promise to deliver your votes to whichever politician they’re in bed with. They get their power from you, and yet their actions ultimately hurt you. They’re chasing American industry offshore by making outrageous, economically illogical demands that they know will never work. And now that they’ve chased jobs out of union states, they’re trying to chase them out of right-to-work states like South Carolina, so eventually the jobs will leave America altogether. But these union bosses will still figure out a way to keep their gig, and so will their politically aligned corporate friends. As long as these big corporations have a good crony capitalist in the White House, they can rely on DC to bail them out until the whole system goes bankrupt, which, I am afraid, is not very far off. When big government, big business, and big union bosses collude together, they get government to maximize their own interests against those of the rest of the country.

So, now these union bosses are desperately trying to cast the grassroots Tea Party Movement as being “against the workingman.” How outrageously wrong this unapologetic Jim Hoffa is, for the people’s movement is the real movement for working class men and women. It’s rooted in real solidarity, and not special interests and corporate kickbacks. It represents the needed reform that will empower workers and job creators. We stand with the little guy against the corruption and influence peddling of those who collude to grease the wheels of government power.

This collusion is at the heart of Obama’s economic vision for America. In practice it is socialism for the very rich and the very poor, but a brutal form of capitalism for the rest of us. It is socialism for the very poor who are reduced to a degrading perpetual dependence on a near-bankrupt centralized government to provide their every need, while at the same time robbing them of that which brings fulfillment and success – the life-affirming pride that comes from taking responsibility for your own destiny and building a better life through self-initiative and work ethic. And Obama’s vision is socialism via crony capitalism for the very rich who continue to get bailouts, debt-ridden “stimulus” funds, and special favors that allow them to waive off or help draft the burdensome regulations that act as a boot on the neck to small business owners who don’t have the same friends in high places. And where does this collusion leave working class Americans and the small business owners who create 70% of the jobs in this country? Out in the cold. It’s you and your children who are left paying for the cronyism of Obama and our permanent political class in DC.

Ask yourself if the folks you heard demonize concerned, independent Americans yesterday really speak for the working class when they’re all too happy to burden your families with the bill to bail out the President’s friends on Wall Street.

We should not forget that for all his lofty rhetoric, President Obama is a Chicago politician. Graft, cronyism, and quid pro quo are the well-known methods of an infamous Chicago political machine, of which Barack Obama emerged. This corruption isn’t just the result of a few bad apples. It’s the nature of a skewed system that’s typical of one not allowing a level playing field. If one desires opportunity for all, then the only solution is sudden and relentless reform. I know of what I speak. I too served in public office in a state that had a corruption problem. The difference is that I fought the corrupt political machine. Barack Obama used the machine in his state to advance. He never challenged it. And he’s evidently brought the same Chicago “pay-to-play” practices to the White House.

It’s sad to see much of the labor movement fall lock step behind a President whom Hoffa calls upon to partner in “waging war” against patriotic Americans. I will never forget that as a governor, in trying to be a friend to the working men and women in our unions, I gave a speech on August 27, 2008, at the annual AFL-CIO meeting in Anchorage. There, union members humbled me with a standing ovation for fighting the corruption in Alaska and for bringing parties together for progress on energy development projects. Then just two days later I landed on the national stage as John McCain’s running mate, and the union leadership turned on me from that day forward even though I had not changed one iota in my plans, principles, vision, and commitment to jobs for working class Americans. The only difference was I was challenging the politician the union bosses were committed to electing. It was almost comical, this lesson learned with their new spots revealed so quickly.

Recently someone commented: “I’m a union member. I’ve been a Democrat all my life. Now I’ll vote for anyone with a plan to save America.” I know what that person is feeling. I want all good union brothers and sisters to know that there is an alternative. The grassroots, independent Tea Party Movement articulates a real alternative rooted in free men and free markets, not the cronyism of Barack Obama and the permanent political class in DC. Their cronyism is why we have no job growth, massive unsustainable debt, and a housing market in the tank. Too many politicians are simply addressing the economic symptoms instead of fighting the underlying disease. The path forward is through reform. On Saturday, I outlined some ideas about that reform, and I will continue to do so.

In the meantime, good union brothers and sisters, don’t let Hoffa tell you what to do. He doesn’t represent the real interests of working men and women. He’s not doing you any favors. He’s just living off your paychecks.

~ Sarah Palin

Crony Capitalism is a huge problem in government and both parties practice it at both the federal and the state level. Heck, what am I saying, it’s even done at the local level. This sort of corruption has permeated our society. We’ve come to take it for granted, which is wrong, wrong, wrong. When we have Presidents, and Governors working to enrich their big money supporters, at the expense of others, we have a serious problem.

Of course, just making the rich richer isn’t the only thing a corrupt politician can do for their buddies. As Michele Malkin writes today, candidate Obama promised to end a federal probe into Teamsters Union corruption. President Obama made good on that promise.

This sort of thing is why the American economy is in a mess. Government picking winners and losers at every level is not only corrupt, and immoral, it goes against everything America stands for. Everything our founders fought and died for.

We must demand Liberty and Freedom for the working men and women. We must demand Liberty and Freedom for American business. Freedom from corrupt politicians and their union thug buddies. Freedom to work without having to pay someone for the privilege of doing so!

We must reform the way Americans work.

Here’s a bit of video of Hoffa and how he operates: [H/T: Gulagbound.com]

We all remember how the purple shirted SEIU thugs attacked Kenneth Gladney in St Louis for simply being a Black man selling Tea Party stuff at a town hall event. This is who these people are.

We’ve been called terrorists, racists, and now sons-a-bitches, by some of the most violent elements of our society. Unions were built on violence and intimidation. Businesses that fought unions were violently attacked, and workers who wouldn’t submit to union slavery were violently attacked.These unions are nothing more than government sanctioned organized crime.

We talk a lot about the Ruling Class in America. It’s not just the permanent political class, it’s union leadership and other special interest groups, that buy politicians off. This happens at every level of government. Local, state, and federal. It must be stopped. The American people must rise up and support sweeping reform.

One of the reasons we support Sarah Palin so strongly is the fact she has taken on corrupt politicians and crony capitalism since her very earliest days in public office. Twenty years ago she was going after her fellow Wasilla city council member over crony capitalism, she would do this throughout her time as a public servant.

The story of how she took on the entire corrupt Alaska Republican Establishment™ is well documented.

We need someone who will go after corruption no matter where or when they find it. Even if it’s a friend who is engaged in the impropriety, like Sarah’s friend, mentor, and fellow city council member Nick Carey was in Wasilla.

On Fri, Aug 26, 2011 at 5:50 PM, Charles Rachlis <crachlis> wrote:

Sent: Friday, August 26, 2011 4:58 PM
Subject:Matt Austin struck me today at the CAPS* Sutter street office. officeHi Patty Valdez**,

Today I went to the SF CAPS office to inspect the membership list. Based on the communication we received (in an e-mail to caucus member and CAPS candidate for Treasurer Giorgio Cosentino) from Chris Voight stating that members could go to either the San Francisco or the Sacramento office to inspect the records. I (Charles Rachlis caucus member and candidate for Vice President of CAPS) took a few vacation hours to visit the CAPS office in SF and inspect the membership list, as is our right.

To prepare the office staff for my visit, I sent two emails to the CAPS staff on August 25th and asked for information by COB on how to inspect the list. In the second e-mail I noticed that I planned to go to the office and inspect the list. Not getting a response from CAPS staff by 9:30 am today (in fact still none by now) I traveled to the city for the visit.

When I got to the office at #1 Sutter Street Suite 800 I found the door locked. On the door there were plaques for Blanning and Baker, then CAPS, then PECGS, and one more organization. I knocked on the door and after a few moments Matt Austin opened the door. I stepped across the threshold with my left foot and much to my surprise Matt Austin struck me across the chest with his forearm in an attempt to block my entry and demanded in a belligerent tone “what are you doing here?” I responded, I am here to inspect the list. I referenced the emails with Chris Voight and my two unanswered emails and proceeded to enter. Matt pointed to the chairs and I waited there.

Matt threatened me with security and I explained again that Chris already Okayed our right to see the list. He then called Chris but could not get through. Then obviously frustrated and not wanting to show me the list he came over to me and got right up in my face (about 2.5 inches from me) and said with a twisted up face, “listen buster you don’t know who your messing with.” “You can see the list but you have to be civil.” I responded, “what is the definition of civil? Is there a definition in the bylaws of civil?” Of course I was thinking how can someone who hits you on the way into the room then gets up in your face complain that you’re not being civil? Then the phone rang and Chris called back. Matt answers and tells Chris that Charles is here and he is being a jerk. Now that got my goat and so I over spoke Matt loudly just so Chris could hear me and understand that members rights were being trampled.

Moments later Matt hangs up with Chris and calls security to run me out of the building. I challenged his authority to kick me out of the CAPS office. I noted that as a CAPS member I pay for the office and have a right to come there. He then told me CAPS pays no rent here and that I was not a tenant of the building and he would call the cops which he promptly did. I demanded to know whose office it is because it says CAPS on the door. Matt said it is his office, and continued his call to the cops to have me arrested. At which point I called my lawyer and asked what to do and we decided to leave under duress when the building security asked me to leave.

So CAPS has to answer:
1) Is it CAPS policy to allow staffers to hit members?
2) Is the office at Sutter Street a CAPS office or is it Matt Austin’s office?
3) What is the proper procedure for inspecting the membership list?
4) Who is Matt Austin I do not see him listed on the CAPS web site?
5) Why is the Sutter Street address listed on the web site if it is not a CAPS office as Matt stated?
6) Why is the plaque for CAPS on the door of Suite 800 if this is Matt Austin’s office and not a CAPS office?
7) Why are CAPS materials and information stored in Matt Austin’s office which he claims is not a CAPS office?
8) Why did Chris Voight tell us we could inspect the list at the CAPS office on Sutter Street if that is not the case?
9) When, where and how can CAPS members inspect the membership list?

How long has this type of intimidation been going on? Now I understand why members have been hesitant to stand up for their rights. Blanning and Baker which holds CAPS captive will do everything it can to prevent members from looking into how they loot our organization.

Charles Rachlis
Associate Industrial Hygienist
Richmond Campus Health and Safety Officer

*CAPS is the California Association of Professional Scientists representing 2500 State of Califonia Scientists
**Patty Valdez is the lame duck president of the organization.

1) Original Pointing Plaguemarine

I believe this model is called “Nurgle Renegade with Plaguebearer Head”.  I own exactly one of these models.  I stripped it and repainted it.  The second paint job was done in Japan with a very limited palette.  Folks these days don’t realize how good they have it with their websites, their mail order, their 100s of different colors to choose from, their specialty bits manufacturers.  This model was one of the first Chaos Space Marines I bought and one of the few I could scrounge up while in high school, I converted the beginnings of my army from RBT01s and 2nd Edition box set loyalists.

2) Plaguemarine with Nurgling on shoulder

This model probably came in the same blister as the one above.  These two models probably along with the +1 Toughness encouraged me to go with Nurgle at the dawn of 2nd Edition.  This model was also stripped and repainted in Japan.  This is the only copy of the model I have.  Looking at this page in Stuff of Legends, (someone borrowed my old catalogs and never gave them back) it appears I do have every Nurgle Renegade.  I almost have every Tzeentch one shown too.

3) Nurgle Renegade with Horns aka Nurgle heavy weapon guy

This model I really liked and was able to find copies of online.  I think I may own three.  Two are currently painted and in my display cabinet.  Dylan was unsuccessful at turning one up, but he’s found lots of old OOP models.  I’m unemployed and used to live on an Island in the colonies.  The fact I have several is a testament to my passion as a Nurgle collector.

4) Plaguebearer Head #2

This model I did not strip and repaint.  He must have come in a blister with one of the other Nurgle Renegades as I’ve had the model since say 1994.  It wasn’t unheard of to have blisters with three or more models in them back in the day.  Small models like goblins used to come several to a blister.  All GW models used to be smaller and even dreadnoughts and bikes came in blisters.

5) Plaguemarine Champion

Picking the final model was tough.  Every model I picked was basically released before I started playing the game almost.  Models were just more desirable and harder to come by back then.  You had to save and make a pilgrimage to GW Gastown, then you had to hope they had what you wanted in stock.  I back filled my collection in the mid to late 90s as I traveled across Canada doing co-op work terms.  I’d always hunt through old blisters and I ordered a bunch of stuff as it went out of print or traded for it after it was OOP.  That said all my favourite models I acquired new when the Diseased Sons were starting out, way before nurgle.muschamp.ca.

There have been a number of Plaguemarine Champion miniatures.  There were two released for 2nd Edition.  I used one as a general and the second as a special weapons trooper.  There was a special champion that came with the metal Plaguemarine havoc box set, which I converted to be an icon bearer and there is even a champion or at least helmetless model that comes with the Forgeworld Death Guard upgrade kits.  I like a lot of these armless models, but I think from a miniature sculpting point of view, the models that have the most personality generally come in one piece and historically are made of metal.  So I chose the Plaguemarine Champion with Plasma pistol, the one sighting along his weapon with his breather hanging loose.  I like the guy with the blue face best.  I’m big on blue faces for Chaos Space Marines.  I’ve tried other colors and blue looks best with green, purple, black, even red power armor.

I’m a fan of some of my many converted and kit bashed champion models as are others, but it’s getting so I don’t even remember where I got the bits and pieces from nowadays.  My collection is pretty big and I have a lot of unpainted models and bits, that I need to devote time to if my life ever turns around.  I also need to buy a real camera, there is a dust mote in my iPhone now, I noticed it the other day, unable to wipe it away.  I put up a gallery of Plaguemarines before, after I came back from Japan so 2004ish, I’ve painted a few more since then.  ;-)

A lot of the best Nurgle sculpts were actually Warhammer Fantasy Battle ones which can be incorporated into a 40K army through conversion or daemonic allies.  One model I still have to repaint is my original Chaos Magus, Cancerous the Extremely Naughty.

Sister and Brother CAPS members,

CAPS bylaws were illegally changed in February 2011 to take away your right to an annual membership meeting. This was done by a board which contained not one single duly installed officer. According to the old bylaws officers and directors shall be installed at the annual membership meeting. This meeting has not been held for the last ten years.

CAPS only hold informational meetings and have denied the members their right to the bylaws mandated annual membership meeting (which must be attended by a quorum) for the last ten years. Therefore all the officers and directors, though elected, were never duly installed by the members. This may seem a technicality, one which the board over looked, ignored and explained away as unimportant because they install the officers at a board meeting.

But it is not insignificant because by not holding this meeting on an annual basis the organization has been in breach of its contract (the bylaws) with its members and has denied us the right to set agenda items before the membership,(the second part of the passage in the 2007 bylaws referring to annual membership meetings), the original intent of the annual meeting. If you look at the old bylaws you will see that the annual meeting is the only place a member can put an issue before the membership. That right has been denied for 10 years. Since I explained this at the last informational meetings held at CDPH (Richmond), DTSC(Berkeley), and Cal/OSHA (Oakland) the board has changed the bylaws to take away the members right to an annual meeting and to bring issues of interest before the membership.

The CAPS board election approaches. In my view, CAPS as it exists is undemocratic, has operated illegally for years, does not meet the needs of its members, perpetuates an outdated myth that Scientists are “professionals” and not workers and therefore should engage only in “professional“ forms of struggle (lawsuits, lobbying and elections) and do not work to build solidarity actions with the broader labor movement. Funny despite our professional status I know longshoremen that make more money than we do! CAPS had a failed strategy (along with the other unions) on how to fight the furloughs. CAPS had a failed strategy on how to keep our pay equal to inflation (no COLA puts us about 18% behind where we were 10 years ago + loss from furloughs). CAPS has a failed strategy on getting pay parity for members.

CAPS lawsuits are designed to keep our dues money flowing to the lawyers, with nothing to show for it. An analysis of their track record will show waste and hoodwinking of the membership with their tag line on every capsule “Thank you for your continued support!”

It is time to run a slate for CAPS board positions to fight for a democratic union that elevates State Scientists Power to the same potential power that Longshoremen have. When Longshoremen take job actions the wheels of industry come to a halt.

Our work affects many important aspects of industry, health and safety, food inspection, air and water quality standards. Where I come from picket lines mean don’t cross! When scientists are prepared to fight for their rights they can exert the power of the picket and will be honored by facilities workers and others who come from the same working class and civil rights traditions our parents taught us to honor and join picket lines not cross them. When we have a union membership and board willing to exert the power we have, only then will we win our rights. If we had a fighting leadership in our unions we would not have suffered the furloughs we would have brought the Schwarzenegger regime down by powerful united job actions of 1.5 million public workers in the State/counties and municipalities acting together. Instead look at you paycheck and weep. DON’T BY THE LIE THERE IS NO MONEY THERE ARE 84 BILLIONAIRS IN CALIFORNIA!

I will run on a program being developed by a caucus of public workers inside and outside of CAPS because our struggle is not only in CAPS but is a Statewide and nationwide issue. I invite others who are willing to fight to join me to run a full slate in the upcoming election. Contact me if you want to run on a slate and discussion program we will choose which individuals will run for which position on the slate on Monday by noon so we can start collecting the signature. If you want to participate in any way without being a candidate feel free to contact me.

WRITTEN LATER THAT DAY…WHEN WE RECEIVED NEWS THAT CAPS FAILED TO WIN AGAIN IN COURT.

Again proof CAPS leadership under control of lawyers has no winning strategy for pay parity.

It is time to consider job actions designed to force the state to treat scientists with respect.

By any reasonable standard we do not have a legal and binding contract and I did not sign a “no strike pledge”. The negotiation team was not duly authorized; there were no duly installed officers to approve a negotiating team or to certify the results of the contract vote.

How can that be? Because there have not been legally installed officers for over 10 years therefore nothing done in the name of CAPS during that period has been legal. Every negotiation made on our behalf and every check written has been illegal. Why? Because in violation of the old 2007 bylaws the mandated annual membership meeting where officers and directors are to be installed was not held. Therefore every action taken by the board for over 10 years, since the last by-laws mandated annual membership meeting was held has been in violation of our rights, has been illegal and we the membership are due damages for illegal collection and use of funds by inappropriately  installed officers and directors.

In addition whoever signed the contract with the state did so without being legally installed as officers and directors at  non-existent annual membership meetings. This means, we do not have a legal contract with the state. Rather we have the state making agreements with officers and directors who are not our duly installed representatives. This is collusion between the union leadership and the state to prevent the membership from exerting their right to annual meetings. The officers and directors for the last ten years have been illegally, in violation of the bylaws, installed by the self-same board members (or their predecessors)who fill the positions.

I am not making this up they CAPS representatives had to admit it when I asked for minutes of the last three bylaws mandated annual meetings. Those minutes do not exist, because the bylaws mandated meetings have not been held for 10 years. Banning and Baker (B&B) have the responsibility as the Executive Director to keep the board following the bylaws, but they have not. So they (B&B) have acted against the legal interests of the membership and in violation of the bylaws, which they helped to write and re-write this February in order to take your right to an annual meeting away. In business one would say they neglected nay violated their fiduciary responsibility to their clients (us). Request your own copy of the 2007 and 2011 bylaws and read them yourself. B&B are robbing us with their phony lawsuits which are not designed to win they are designed to use up our dues funds and prevent us for preparing for job actions.

Charles Rachlis

I had them mainly finished but extra work needed to be put into the fancy resin bases.  I also needed to do a few minor touch ups and paint the eyes.  I left the skull head assault marines with just black holes for eyes, it looks creepy enough.  Sometimes when you go to do the eyes you screw up the face some, especially if you’ve been sweating and drinking.  Sometimes I leave the eyes until the next morning, but this time I just pushed on.

I snapped on last pick to prove they are done and then worked on this here blog update.  There are four more models unpainted and unassembled that constituted part of my proposed Astronomi-con Vancouver army, but I’m not going to work on them.  I have some other models that are unpainted but assembled.  Some of them are even primed.  These models are going to get some attention.  I don’t like leaving things undone.  If I’m going to paint something I’ll take it out of its packaging and work on it, otherwise it can sit in a box until I get around to it.

As top Republicans face delicate and difficult negotiations with the White House, they are beginning a concerted effort to prepare newer members of the Republican conference to vote in favor of raising the ceiling. This coming week’s most difficult task, some Republicans believe, will be getting their own freshman class to a yes vote.

Slowly, senior Republicans have been walking their newer colleagues off that position. Boehner, McConnell and the rest know what will happen if Republicans and Democrats cannot work out a deal; what’s more, they believe voters will ultimately blame them for obstruction, rather than Democrats. “The leadership uniformally understands the need to reach some kind of agreement that will avoid default,” said a senior House Republican aide.For 2302, this illustrates the role of the party leadership and the tension that is common between them and the rank and file members. For both 2301 and 2302 it illustrates one of the problematic consequences Republicans face as a consequence of the 2010 elections. With greater numbers, come increased internal divisions and greater difficulty keeping everyone together.

This is compounded by the increased connections House members have with folks in their home districts – or their electoral constituencies – who want them to toe the line. Tea Party members who might be interested in voting for the increase might face threats that doing so will lead to a competitor in the Republican primary. Almost certainly a great deal of the conversations that are taking place have to do with how the leadership can provide these people electoral cover.

Democrats have historically had greater problems keeping their troops together, than Republicans, but this seems to be changing.

I finished up the skulls and armor for the most point.  I painted on the purple flames.  I even did the pale blue skin, which didn’t go perfectly smooth, but came out well enough.  I touched up  a bit and the last major thing to paint on the models was the Aspiring Champions power weapon.

I’d used up good power weapon colors of blue and purple already on these models, so I opted for a bit of mint/jady green.  I used about a half dozen different paints all made by Vallejo or GW and blended and mixed them on a wet palette.  Not my best work but good enough and unique enough to stand out on the battlefield or in the miniature display case.

Now the biggest problem facing me as far as completing these models, is the fancy resin bases.  The two on the left will be easy, they just have some dirt and skulls, but the other three.  That will require some highlighting and detail work all their own.  Maybe I’ll be able to finish them tomorrow, but probably not after how little I accomplished today.

WHAT THE LABOR TOPS DON’T WANT WORKERS TO KNOW

Labor leaders bemoan the decline of the “middle class,” but the real crime is that they went along with academic sociology and the TV culture which for decades has told workers they are not a “working class,” defined by their social/economic relationship to the means of production, but rather a “middle class” defined by income level and the culture of consumerism. In the face of the economic decline of the American empire and the realignment of economic power toward a rising China, the “middle class” expectations of the American labor movement are no longer affordable in a “profit first” driven economy. Our expectations have burst the limits of capitalism! This objective fact leaves the labor tops with nothing to offer workers today!

The international economic crisis has not been resolved. Billions were thrown at banks and none of it trickled down to jobs. Rather the big banks, speculators and corporate elite used it for personal bonuses, to continue speculative trading and to “rationalize” their companies, increasing capital expenditure and cutting employees to assure returns for stockholders. As American workers’ wage packages (wages, COLAS, pensions and healthcare) are slashed in an “employer’s market” here at home, across the world in China workers’ wages are rising under the pressure of a working class which holds, on average, 435 strikes a day. Businesses, The Economist tells us, are seeking to set a price point in their purchase of labor power (the commodity that workers sell) on the international market, before they can bring jobs back to the USA. But even the most optimistic economists predict that lowering American wages would not bring back enough industrial manufacturing, or even service jobs, to put the 12-20% unemployed back to work, much less to preserve the much vaunted “middle class” lifestyle. The result is a marginalized youth, black and Latino population with no prospects for inclusion in the productive economy, and a prison industrial complex housing two million prisoners who are disproportionately people of color, and overwhelmingly come from the poorest layers of the working class.

As the crisis heads into what is termed a “double dip” recession, imperialism has its tentacles spread thin. Three wars, responsible for countless tens of thousands of civilian deaths, are being run by the Democrats, while covert actions and drone strikes cross more borders than Wikileaks can keep up with. The workers of North Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and China are attacking their governments and taking massive strike and protest actions. With the collapse in the bailouts of Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, and the potential downgrading of the USA’s bond rating by Moodys, it is clear the big bosses of the world economy see no way out except imposing massive austerity measures, which they expect the trade union leaders, the Social Democrats, the Labor Parties, and, in the USA, the Democratic Party to administer. And the class traitors at the head of our unions are following right along – witness SEIU Local 1000’s endorsement of Governor Brown’s regressive tax plans in California.

The bosses’ current strategy translates into attacks on all workers. The halving of UAW auto workers’ pay has set a new lower wage standard for American industrial and manufacturing work. The increase in class sizes and tuition for students, the cuts in public services, the gutting of public health and other essential governmental services and the scapegoating of the public worker have become standard measures across the nation. The attack on the last and largest bastion of the American labor movement, the public employee sector, is an all-out class war launched by big capitalists with the intention of imposing a historic defeat on the American working class.

In order for market forces (remember the free hand of the market) to drive American workers’ compensation down to the price point where capital can rationally invest here again, the market demands gutting of defined benefit pension plans, driving down public sector wages, cutting the social wage (government benefits), and shifting the burden of the crisis further onto the backs of the poor, workers, and the oppressed. The market requires the destruction of the unions and any organizations that organize the working class, the poor, and the oppressed. Today’s union leaderships are not prepared for this onslaught. In fact, these class collaborators act in diametric opposition to the interests of the working class; they are doing everything they can to stop us from organizing independently of the bosses’ political parties, from launching solidarity actions, and from striking at all – let along building for the widespread, indefinite general strikes that will ultimately be needed to confront the bosses’ attacks.

A FAILED STRATEGY FOR LABOR

In the period of the expansion of the US Empire during and after WWII, the labor tops made peace with the American ruling class. Under the threat of rising working class rank and file militancy in the 1930s (the rise of the CIO; general strikes in Minneapolis and San Francisco), Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act – much lauded as a victory for workers, as it guarantees the right to organize, but the actual purpose of which was to corral the working class into reliance on a state structure rather than our own self activity. The NLRA was followed quickly by anti-labor laws such as the Taft- Hartley Act, which constrains labor by making it illegal to offer solidarity to other workers in the form of strike action. Today we see the result: the MUNI rank and file rejected a sell out contract, only to have the “impartial” arbitrator impose it over their objection. If workers in the Bay Area can be stripped of the right to collective bargaining without a fight, it exposes the role of the sell-out labor leaders, which is to constrain the working class during the imposition of austerity. We need to shut down the entire Bay Area transportation grid to defend our MUNI drivers, but solidarity strikes are against the Taft-Hartley law and the craven leadership uses that law to keep the rank and file in line.
As long as the preeminent position of US imperialism brought home super-profits after WWII, infrastructure, education, technology and industry (particularly the military-industrial complex) created a high demand for labor. Rising wages increasingly came with labor peace, enabling the labor bureaucracy to transform itself into a self- perpetuating dues collection agency that acted in its own interests, abandoning class conflict for the “rational” road of arbitration, lawsuits, legislation, and buying politicians.

This worked well for about 25 years, but the laws of capitalist economics precluded the fantasies of the labor bureaucracy from enduring. As the economy changed and wages started to stagnate in the early 1970s, the illusion began to evaporate. There never was a “middle class”; we had been workers all along, and we could pay for the new consumerist culture of a “middle class American dream” only by sending the women of the household to work, by taking second jobs, and by incurring debt in the form of student loans, credit cards, and second mortgages against our houses. Now all these stopgaps are running out, and the explosion of the speculative stock market and inflated housing bubble economy is gutting the standard of living of the American working class. Wages have been flat or declining for decades; we work more hours than before; we have less vacation; we are less secure, and all the money has floated to the top 0.01% while we are scrounging to hold on to a declining paycheck. The labor bureaucracy was not prepared for this! They still cling to their failed strategy of class collaboration with the Democrats, reliance on the courts, and lobbying legislators to “tax the rich.”

This strategy is not just a mistake. Rather, the union tops are doing their job, as defined for them by the bosses’ legal system. They will do everything possible to keep workers from taking strike action, and from mounting solidarity actions with workers with workers in other unions, counties, districts, states or nations. The labor bosses see the upsurge in rank-and-file militancy as a threat, which they can only contain by corraling it into electoral politics. Thus, the popular sentiment for a general strike in Wisconsin was diffused into a recall campaign, which prevents immediate militant action, and steers workers into placing faith and hope in the Democrats rather than in our own self-organized mass actions. Thus, the AFL-CIO forbids any mention of opposition to foreign wars as they prepare to rally the troops for the 2012 electoral cycle.

HOW TO PREPARE FOR A GENERAL STRIKE

The current crop of union leaders is not going to prepare for a general strike. Instead, they spend most of our dues dollars selling concessionary contracts to the members, while giving the rest to lobbyists and lawyers, leaving our strike funds dry and our membership unorganized, frustrated, and demoralized. For the working class to avoid the historic defeat the Koch brothers have planned for us, we must first take back control of our unions! New militant rank and file leaders not afraid to confront Taft-Hartley through strike action must rise in the ranks to replace the functionaries and careerists who sap our dues while shedding crocodile tears about their inability to mobilize the membership and bring home the bacon.

Effective strike action and general strikes cannot be organized unless we first either take over our unions, or else build new unions and other workers’ organizations with a new leadership. Our current union misleaders’ attitude is that they are only responsible to act in the interest of the dues-paying membership – not the future members, not the unorganized workers, not the unemployed, and certainly not the workers of the world, oppressed, exploited and brutalized as we are by Wall Street and the military industrial war machine. But our class can only survive and win if we take up the old Knights of Labor slogan: An Injury to One Is an Injury to All! Solidarity is our only power, and the ability to strike in the historic interest of the class is our strongest weapon. When the leaders of today’s unions spurn these tools of the international working class, they act as the agents of the ruling class in our organizations, and must be driven out and replaced. That means we need rank-and-file class struggle caucuses to promote a new militant leadership, to fight for working class independence, and to build a fighting workers/labor party that unites the entire working class and all our allies nationally and internationally to strike as one against the rule of the exploiters and build a movement for workers’ power and workers’ ownership of the means of production.

The drive to build for a general strike must be pursued in conjunction with the democratization of the unions and/or the formation of new workers’ organizations. As the current leaders continue to mislead the masses, workers’ frustration will rise, and the opportunity to form class struggle rank-and-file caucuses that can challenge for power will grow. To win, these caucuses must advance strategy, tactics, and demands that unite the entire working class, and forge independence, and must prepare for and take united strike actions.

Demands such as no concessions, no take aways, and pay me my COLA are of immediate concern. Demands such as jobs for all and 30 hours work for 40 hours pay can unite labor with the unemployed and those on furloughs and reduced hours. Demands for universal health care, not handouts to the insurance companies, will unite the organized with the underinsured. Demands to nationalize the banks and major industries under workers’ control to provide immediate access to capital for job creation offer solution to the crisis of market control. Demands to end imperialist interventions abroad can unite our organizations with the workers across the planet who struggle against the same corporate criminals who are crushing us!

These demands cannot be won by the current leaders, but can be when we take back and rebuild rank and file workers democracy. The fight to defend the working class from the bosses’ class war requires that labor must clean its own house! Drive out the functionaries, imperialists, corporatists, and class collaborators! Then we can remake our unions into a militant organizing force in the fight for the historic interest of the working class!

“[T]he sections of the Fourth International should always strive not only to renew the top leadership of the trade unions, boldly and resolutely in critical moments advancing new militant leaders in place of routine functionaries and careerists, but also to create in all possible instances independent militant organizations corresponding more closely to the tasks of mass struggle against bourgeois society; and, if necessary, not flinching even in the face of a direct break with the conservative apparatus of the trade unions. If it be criminal to turn one’s back on mass organizations for the sake of fostering sectarian factions, it is no less so passively to tolerate subordination of the revolutionary mass movement to the control of openly reactionary or disguised conservative (‘progressive’) bureaucratic cliques. Trade unions are not ends in themselves; they are but means along the road to proletarian revolution.” Leon Trotsky, The Transitional Program (1938)

Anyway I asked the dude to send a real email detailing what he wanted.  Turns out they are working on some sort of fan publication.  They want photos of all the official GW Chaos Renegade factions and they also wanted action or staged shots.  Now I live in a modest apartment in East Vancouver.  I don’t have room for a gaming table.  I don’t have the vast, vast, majority of my gaming terrain with me in the city.  However loyal readers will remember I started a new large terrain project, but like most things in my life the last five or six years it got derailed…

I told the fellow I only had an iPhone he assured me those were pictures of sufficient enough quality.  So I stopped rioting long enough to take a couple dozen pictures, even setting up my finished terrain tiles in my living room to take a bunch of staged photos.  I put them up on Flickr but I’ll cross post a couple here.