What the hell is wrong with you? Do you really think I or anyone would actually wish eternal ****ation on another person?
It was FIGURE OF SPEECH, an extended METAPHORE to dramatize the seriousness of George's and Ted's false, inaccurate and misleading statements.
(If you don't know or understand what a FIGURE OF SPEECH or an extended METAPHORE is, Google these terms, use Wickapedia or something, but try to get it right.
The issue is/was George's and Ted's lies, half-truths untruths -- all to make them look good and lies lies lies, all to make the people whom they don't like or the truth they don't like look bad.
They are infecting anyone and everyone who doesn't pay careful attention. Obviously they got to you, too.
I was taught that those who act like that go to hell if they don't confess their sins and repent.
But you feel the need to defend them without checking the facts. Ted makes up crap as he goes along. George twists the truth to his own benefit.
They try to destroy anything and anyone else who may be trying to accomplish something for the drivers and then demonize them as enemies of the taxicab drivers.
Do you know what a "shell game" is?
Those are the types characters to whom the fates and fortunes of the taxicab drivers has been entrusted?
That's what you should be be objecting to, not my FIGURE OF SPEECH.
GOD HELP US ALL.
You don't get it do you? Do you really believe that you are engaging in constructive discourse with comments like this?
If you can't tell the difference between reality and a figure of speech, if you confuse truth with metaphore, you are the sad case. You are the one that needs help.
GOD HELP US ALL. Enlighten us so we can see the truth. Open our eyes to the lies and frauds being perpetrated on the the taxicab industry....
The one thing is really sad is your use of war images to rationalize one's actions.
We are cab drivers. We are not at war with anyone are we?
The weak resort to war, destruction and violence.
The insincere of heart resort to lying, trickery, twisting of facts and misleading their followers.
The truly strong make peace. Special forces indeed!
Well, like they say, if you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, blind them with bull manure.
Hey, mabye that should be Ted's and George's motto --
"if you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, blind them with bull manure."
Wolfgang J. Weiss-
I don't understand your sadness at my use of 'war images to rationalize one's actions'. I simply used the terms 'soldiers' and 'generals' and the phrase 'one-man Special Forces army'. Exactly who's actions are these 'war images' 'rationalizing'? And what actions, please?
I got the impression from your prolific postings that you have an intellect capable of understanding the implications of 'soldiers' to mean the ones who do the tactical necessities at a greater cost and with less recognition than 'generals' who are often self-appointed strategists who are granted or take an inordinate amount of credit for a successful campaign.
Have you ever seen David Letterman boast that he has 'the strength of ten men'? Have you ever seen those 'Army of One' recruiting commercials? Do you think that the term 'Special Forces' is just inappropriate hyberbole or do you realize that 'Special Forces' is meant to describe the fact that Ted Budzynski has demonstrated a high level of skill, determination, and success at collecting signatures from drivers on many different petitions which distinguishes him from many of us?
Or is the task of collecting signatures, which requires one to converse with many different drivers, too mundane and beneath someone of your superior psyche?
Yes, we are cabdrivers, and some of us are At War with Ignorance and Apathy in order to organize.
I am not weak and I will make war with and destroy anyone or anything to protect the collective interests my fellow cabdrivers and our business.
Please make complete lists of 'the insincere of heart' by name and a clear chart for us of their 'lying', trickery, twisting of facts and misleading their followers'.
Ted Budzynski has made peace between certain organizers. He is truly strong and indeed, a very Special Force.
It seems to me that you are the one who is failing at your attempts to dazzle us with your brilliance, and though we have to step in and around your ****, we are not blind.
I walked with the Anarchists in the front an anti-war march down Michigan Avenue and over to Daley Plaza; I wonder if you might just be an easily-offended peacenik.
How about the imagery and ideology of 'Peace Through Prosperity'? Wolfgang J. Weiss, what have you grown other than the seeds of discontent?
-MIKE FOULKS
This is the best I have read so far...
Something Money Can’t Buy ----- Dignity and Respect
“The people who do this job are desperate,” Professor Hodges said. When an incentive like yesterday’s special fares comes along, “you don’t have to be a Marxist to understand that that will breed strikebreakers.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/nyregion/23nyc.html?ref=nyregion
Yi Tang-
Thank you for your numerous postings containing links to sites with information about what is happening in NYC. While I will always contend that Chicago and New York are fundamentally different taxi business enviroments, we should pay attention to what is happening in NYC, but take enough care to contrast and compare that with what is happening here with these fundamental differences in mind. Simply said, "Chicago is not New York City. (Thank God.)".
I have noticed that both you and Wolfgang Weiss like to interlace your more pratical postings with philosophical quotes and metaphysical statements. Too many of these can lead a conversation astray into the ashtrays what divides us and away from the dinner plate of what we agree on. At least you have given us a lot to chew on instead of blowing smoke.
Could you please post a short bio of yourself so that we can better understnad where you are coming from? When I attended that ridiculous meeting with Prateek Sampat at UNITE-HERE, I think you said that you used to be a cabdriver, but that you are not one now. You gave me a ride over to Carriage Cab in an immaculate, white Town Car limo. Are you a cabdriver or a limo driver? What do you hope to accomplish and what is your interest with organizing cabdrivers?
Thanks again, Yi, for your contributions.
-Mike Foulks
The first three words of your post say it all Mikey.
You could have stopped there. The rest is trash because you're trying to trash me. I guess you are one of those "soldiers" that likes to kick butt and take names later.
You got guts, I'll say that. But only real soldiers know that it takes a lot more than guts to survive.
I got into this taxicab worker advocacy thing because of all the BS and because I had the temerity and audacity to think I could in my little way help improve things. Guts!
I got OUT of this taxicab worker advocacy thing because I discovered the BS is deeper, wider and more far reaching than I ever imagined.
It is clear now that you, Mike, and many of the current players in the Chicago taxicab workers rights movement just simple do not understand this -- you are too immersed in it to make any sense out of all of it.
Somebody suggested that organizing cabbies is like trying to hurd cats. I know this to be true because I have two of my own.
Sticking to animal imagery (with all due respect to those who deserve it) the Chicago cabbie organizing "industry" is more like a pack of junkyard dogs - a lot of bark, but no real bite.
And to switch to container imagery: A very long time ago Sister Mary Alice chided her way-to-loud boys in her third grade class that "EMPTY BARRELS MAKE THE MOST NOISE."
A word to the wise is sufficient.
No matter what you think of me, the fact is that some of your comrades have been writing and posting things that are directly contradictory to the facts -- yes, Mike, they are what you and some of your comrades spoon feed yourself on a daily -- lies.
The one and only reason I am posting anything is to dispel the outright lies Ted and George have been spreading about me.
Somebody should tell them that in order to win a "war" they have to attck the "enemy" not your friends.
But the damage is done. My last bit of advice to you -- and your ilk who spread lies and falsehoods and use this forum as your personal tool for dissembling, character assasnition and personal destruction -- is the same advice VP Cheney gave to a US Senator a while back: Go F _ _ K yourselves.
You have no self-respect so how can you respect others. You have no dignity so how can you recognize and respect the goodness others have to offer?
I pity you. But you wouldn't understand.
I would still defend you and your right to tell the truth. But watch out, when you defend liars and their lies you might become their "enemy" at any moment. Bark! Bark, bark.
Peace and Love (even if you don't deserve it!)
DUH! I don’t understand.
"Superior Psyche?" What the heck is that supposed to mean?
A personification of the soul, which in the form of a beautiful girl was loved by Eros?
The human soul, spirit, or mind?
The mental or psychological structure of a person, especially as a motive force?
The second emanation of the One, regarded as a universal consciousness and as the animating principle of the world?
A female given name? (Hey, are you calling me a girl?)
Perhaps if I really had a "superior psyche" I wouldn't have gotten involved with the likes of Ted in the first place and I would ignore your toothless barking as well.
It is gung-ho, blind-faith guys like you who consistently mistake what may be "clearer vision" with "superior phsyche" or "brains" or "intelligence."
Combine that alleged clearer vision with my wordsmithery, I guess I scare people a lot.
BOOOOO! Happy Halloween! Bo ha ha ha ha.
As to understanding soldiers -- don't you dare liken yourself or your hoodlum pals with our great heroes who have fought the real battles, who have sacrificed their LIVES for your right to be here -- that's just disgusting and totally dishonorable, Mickey boy.
Do you see why I said you have no self-respect?
Maybe you can understand this: You are a CAB DRIVER, not a WARRIOR.
Among my friends and acquaintances are some real war heroes who would gladly run over your face in their wheel chairs for comments like that, Mickey.
And a member of my family, a real Special Forces guy, would gladly show you how to remove your manhood for describing a liar like Ted as a member of any armed service of the United States.
Do understand this: Ted is not a soldier or a Special Forces army. He's a cab driver too.
Or how about this: If you drive down the wrong streets, you will not get to your destination.
Superior psyches and even delusional would-be soldiers know that you can not wage war against ignorance and apathy.
Here's some of that philosophical waxing you refer to as blowing smoke:
(1) Make peace with the ignorant and they will be enlightened, and;
(2) Build bridges to meet the apathetic half way and they will gladly join you.
The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. (another real American Hero) said it best:
"Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."
Is the foregoing just too hard for you to grasp?
Finally, your cheap little rhetorical trick of raising me up on some imaginary pedestal of superiority just so you can tear me down reveals your ture empty-headedness.
I never said, wrote, suggested or implied any sort of superiority, you did.
Does that make you an ignoid? Or does that make you a liar (like Ted or George L) by your implication of something that isn't real or didn't happen and claiming to be so anyway?
BOOOOOO! Bark! Woof!
From an independent source:
Foulks writes: "...I will make war with and destroy anyone or anything...."
Independent source responds:
Do you have a gun, knife, bow and arrows,
grenades or sword or any type of ordinance? Better get at least one of each, General Custer, to protect yourself from those who might take your words to heart.
------------------------
My comment: Better check your Criminal Code and Homeland Security laws, pal.
You may be treading on dangerous ground here, on what may be construed as "making statements or distributing information or materials that may be harmful to the United States and/or its citizens" -- serious enough to get you "room" at Gitmo for some serious Q & A sessions....
Hurry, there is still time to get in before they shut it down, or try maybe Abu Grab.
Oh, don't take my word for it. Call Homeland Security for starters.
------------------------
Foulks writes: "Please make complete lists of 'the insincere of heart' by name and a clear chart for us of their 'lying', trickery, twisting of facts and misleading their followers."
Independent source responds:
Tell the Gauleiter (Foulks) to get his own list. (Foulks) seemed to be able to pick his friends and enemies without help before, what's his problem now?
------------------------
My comment: Blind leading the blind. Welcome to lemming land. Watch out for cliffs, crevasses and deep drops in the terrain.
------------------------
No dazzling brilliance or blinding feces from the male bovine species intended!
------------------------
Rhetorical Safety Rule: If anyone is dazzled or blinded by my comments, get some cheap sunglasses.
Also, keep plenty of toilet paper handy so you don't have to step in it.
And that's my line anyway from a response to (Ali) Enger's diatribe a while back. Make up your own lines!
It's OK to "reflect" back commentary, but this is just ripping it off -- no fare!
You walked with Anarchists?
I am amazed. I am surprised two anarchists could get together for anything.
That's a good one.
Here's one I heard way back from my old dayman:
How many cabbies does it take to change a light bulb?
One. If two or more tied, it would be still be dark in here.
Can't they get spell checking to work on these blog-a-sites or whatever they call this virtual wailing walls?
Anyway I blew the punchline in my previous post;
Corrected jocularity is as follows:
How many cabbies does it take to change a light bulb?
One. If two or more TRIED, it would still be dark in here.
Das ist "over easy" like eggs und bratwurst?
Being German, I'm sure it was our far-eastern Japanese "cousins" at Pearl Harbor.
You may also recall that they got nuked for their Sunday morning surprise, which led to their unconditional surrender and the forced sushi-ing of Godzilla, who was then eaten raw, rolled up in sea weed.
The Deutsche Wehrmacht und Luftwaffe was still pretty busy maiming and killing everything that moved in Europe.
I'm just a post-war Marshal Plan baby who was sent here to help re-populate the Americas with new Germans.
The rumor that my family and I are illegal aliens who snuck in on a shipment of 1956 Volkswagons is subject to admanat denial and 5th amendment protection.
According to Charles "Casey" Stengel, "It's not over until the fat lady sings."
Ja. Der Krieg ist fertig mein junger Herr.
Here's the new Godzilla movie...
In a desperate attempt to squeeze any economy out of whatever oil is left, all EPA regulations for the BP refinery in Indiana are lifted, and a shuttered nuclear plant in Zion is restarted to provide that much more electricity. The cribs out on Lake Michigan are joined by oil- and gas-drilling platforms.
At a Public Hearing for a Meter Increase, a handful of taxicab drivers (we still haven't organized by 2012, 2016, or 2020, whenever this takes place) and a Transportation Committee hearing still chaired by Tom Allen is interrupted with a shake. Godzilla is approaching!
In his path towards the massive, and last, bee colony in the region (atop City Hall), Godzilla crushes: 1) The Olympics (the javelin athletes attempt to spear him), 2) The Capone Memorial Casino at McCormick Place, (the winning bettors still demand payment), and 3) Soldier Field, (but his footprint actually fits inside the Old Soldier Field perimeter which remains intact).
He stops for a drink of Buckingham Fountain but becomes distracted by all the kids running around from the Pritzker Children's Museum and then becomes mesemerized with the reflection from the Bean, which he eats. Looking for dessert, he heads towards the Honeypot of the City Hall/County Building, crushing Macy's but not the Clock.
As he starts to grab for the Honeycomb, still-Commissioner Reyes takes advantage of the confusion and alarm by saying that the "San Francisco Model" shows that the taxi business actually improves after an earthquake and her office has wisely put off any recent meter increase request in a well-calculated anticipation of this long-awaited disturbance in the Mew Madrid fault line.
She quickly says, "We are not recommending a meter increase at this time," when the roof is tore open, and Godzilla, now agitated by the Bees who are stinging and stinging his face, breathes fire into the Chambers. In pain, he falls to the ground, and a gazillion yellow cabs crash into him. Annoyed, he starts picking them up and throwing them into the Sears Tower, Trump Internationale, and the John Hancock Building. The Calatrava Spire is unaffected.
At this point, the Department of Homeland Security Air Defense Wing lifts of from the Jesse Jackson Memorial Airport in Peotone...
...Ted Budzynski and Steve Wiedersberg are at the controls...
-MIKE FOULKS
And then Mothra and Gamera, returning from successful Monster Union Organizing drives in another part of the galaxy arrive and emboldened by their success ....
It was Hiz Ahna, Da Mare all along?
At first I suspected John R Partee Cab in that monster suit.
Give me plastic e-commerce debit/credit e-transactions.
Who needs cash? Dirty. Germy. Do you know why they call "filthy lucre?"
They say used TP is cleaner than money.
But let me raise my prices to cover the cost, like any real bee's knees.
I need a Sapporo.
Now do like George says -- keep it professional.
Special (really) thanks Geo for the e-space to this!
The road to truth and understanding begins with a journey inward, a self-examination.
The only "mistake" you made is thinking your actions and reactions are or were mistakes.
Otherwise, you wrote up a really nice, if not a bit self-serving, confessional.
If you can lose the losers and liars, the con-men and cheats that seem to be infesting practically every aspect of the taxicab industry, you may yet accomplish your goals and ambitions.
Also, if you would just stop parroting some of these people's BS, think things through and act on your own volition and creative decisions, the drivers will follow you, no matter where you lead them.
And, please, no more lame excuses like "something came up" or "I was busy." If you're going to be at the front to lead, then do so, be their, jump on every email as if it meant life or death, because it does. Don't ever let up, keep the pressure (on the City) on high.
We are all depending on you, Ms. Callahan, to succeed where most have failed.
Peace, Love, and Good Luck,
Wolf
