I have been a Bruce Springsteen fan for a very long time. A friend recently asked me to make a playlist of some of my favorite songs that weren’t as well known - it clocked in at just under four hours long. 🤡
So it made me wonder - what are everyone else’s favorite Bruce tunes? Not what you think are the best ones, maybe not the most popular ones, but the ones that you listen to time and time again. The ones that make you dance, the ones that make you think, the ones that you play when you roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair…
After submissions ended, everything was sorted and seeded and a bracket created. Links to everything:
Please note: this isn’t looking for the “best” song - that’s obviously Thunder Road and I will die on this hill - but what we collectively decide is our favorite. There are no right or wrong answers. And this isn’t important in any way, we’re here to have some fun with some silly polls so no drama please.
You know what, fuck it, I don’t *want* some frivolous, artisanal, lighter-than-air computer with no customizability, no upgradeability, no reparability, no ports, and a lifetime of *maybe* 3 years if you’re lucky. I want a fucking great BEAST of a computer that’s designed to last a minimum of 50 years, with ports up the wazoo and optional drives for every kind of media! I want modular components that you can drop in a bog for a year, dry them off, and have them still work fine! I want them to make a noise like “ker-chunk!” when you slide them into place! I want a switch that you pull to turn it on! And I don’t want software that constantly forces you to get a pointless, cosmetic “upgrade” every few months either! I want durability! I want longevity! I want satisfying haptics! I want Silicon Valley to go fuck itself!
The Union Solidarity Coalition has been formed by WGA members to start helping those in other unions affected by the strike. Look this over and pass it on…
Historic wage increases. Existing full- and part-time UPS Teamsters will get $2.75 more per hour in 2023, and $7.50 more per hour over the length of the contract.
Existing part-timers will be raised up to no less than $21 per hour immediately, and part-time seniority workers earning more under a market rate adjustment would still receive all new general wage increases.
General wage increases for part-time workers will be double the amount obtained in the previous UPS Teamsters contract — and existing part-time workers will receive a 48 percent average total wage increase over the next five years.
Wage increases for full-timers will keep UPS Teamsters the highest paid delivery drivers in the nation, improving their average top rate to $49 per hour.
Current UPS Teamsters working part-time would receive longevity wage increases of up to $1.50 per hour on top of new hourly raises, compounding their earnings.
New part-time hires at UPS would start at $21 per hour and advance to $23 per hour.
All UPS Teamster drivers classified as 22.4s would be reclassified immediately to Regular Package Car Drivers and placed into seniority, ending the unfair two-tier wage system at UPS.
Safety and health protections, including vehicle air conditioning and cargo ventilation. UPS will equip in-cab A/C in all larger delivery vehicles, sprinter vans, and package cars purchased after Jan. 1, 2024. All cars get two fans and air induction vents in the cargo compartments.
All UPS Teamsters would receive Martin Luther King Day as a full holiday for the first time.
No more forced overtime on Teamster drivers’ days off. Drivers would keep one of two workweek schedules and could not be forced into overtime on scheduled off-days.
UPS Teamster part-timers will have priority to perform all seasonal support work using their own vehicles with a locked-in eight-hour guarantee. For the first time, seasonal work will be contained to five weeks only from November-December.
The creation of 7,500 new full-time Teamster jobs at UPS and the fulfillment of 22,500 open positions, establishing more opportunities through the life of the agreement for part-timers to transition to full-time work.
More than 60 total changes and improvements to the National Master Agreement — more than any other time in Teamsters history — and zero concessions from the rank-and-file.
The highlighted portions are good, but I also really like this line:
“People do not go to war for abstract theories of government. They fight for property and privilege and that was what Virginia fought for in the Civil War.”
