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AND NOW . . . amidst billowing clouds of fragrant, aromatic first- and second-hand premium cigar smoke. . . it is time for . . . that harmless, lovable little fuzz ball, the highly-trained broadcast specialist, having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have, from behind the golden EIB microphone, firmly ensconced in the prestigious Attila-the-Hun chair at the Limbaugh Institute of Advanced Conservative Studies, serving humanity simply by showing up, and he’s not retiring until every American agrees with him, do NOT doubt him, with shrieks of joy at the mere mention of his name...

LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) — Hundreds of Longshoremen stormed the Port of Longview early Thursday, overpowered and held security guards, damaged railroad cars, and dumped grain that is the center of a labor dispute, said Longview Police Chief Jim Duscha.

Members of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union are proceeding with plans for a work stoppage at 29 West Coast ports on May 1 to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite the fact that union leadership has withdrawn its request to waterfront employers that they accommodate closure of the ports. Planning for the protest began in February when the Longshore Caucus, the highest decision-making body for the 25,000 members of the longshore division within the ILWU, overwhelmingly approved a resolution in support of a day of protest. According to its contract, the ILWU is entitled to schedule a...

The WGA announced Tuesday that the International Longshore Warehouse Union sent the hardest hit striking WGA members 60-pound holiday food baskets with frozen turkeys and other Thanksgiving fixings. ILWU member Chris Bradley said they were paid for by the rank-and-file. The WGA called the baskets "Capra-esque".

Charges dropped against ex-San Jose Mayor Gonzales, aide GuerraBy Rodney Foo and Barry Witt Mercury News Article Launched: 06/12/2007 02:35:32 PM PDT All charges against former San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales and his aide Joe Guerra were dropped by a Santa Clara County District Court judge. The charges, including bribery, stemmed from a deal with trash hauler NorCal Waste Systems Inc. Charges against Norcal were also thrown out. Judge John Herlihy signed an order Monday dismissing the charges. In the order, Herlihy cited errors given to the grand jury as grounds for throwing out the entire indictment against Gonzales and...

Still On the Waterfront: Long plagued by Johnny Friendlys, dockworkers fight to take back a mob-infested union by Tom Robbins June 27th, 2006 12:21 PM Just south of the Statue of Liberty, the huge white shipping cranes of New Jersey's container terminals arch into the sky. Even in the summer haze, the cranes still dominate the horizon. Their 200-foot-tall white hoists slant up and east, offering a kind of silent salute to the torch clenched in the statue's upraised arm. Most of New York's shipping is conducted on the Jersey side of the harbor now. More than $130 billion in...

A majority of San Jose City Council members now say Mayor Ron Gonzales should resign his post and the council has scheduled a meeting for next week to discuss removing him from office or stripping him of power. And Councilman Chuck Reed this morning asked the council to rescind the $11.25 million contract amendment to Norcal Waste Systems that is at the root of the city's garbage scandal. Meanwhile the political fallout from Thursday's arrest of Gonzales and his budget aide, Joe Guerra, continued. Councilwoman Nancy Pyle joined five council colleagues in calling for Gonzales to step down. ``I will...

Security Programs, Unions Would Stay at Ports UAE Firm Would Operate Facilities As a furor erupted yesterday over the prospective takeover by a United Arab Emirates company of terminal operations at six major U.S. ports, officials from the company and the Bush administration scrambled to assuage fears that the deal would undermine security and antiterrorism efforts at some of America's biggest maritime facilities. Stewart A. Baker, assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security, said at a news conference yesterday that Dubai Ports World, which won a takeover battle for a British firm now operating terminals in the...

    John Bowers, the aging president of the International Longshoremen’s Association, had gone to meet a local union official at the Smith & Wollensky in Miami Beach. Inside, he was surprised to discover George Barone seated amid the polished brass and dark wood decor of the pricey waterfront steakhouse.     Barone was no stranger. A Genovese family member, he once controlled ILA locals in New Jersey and Miami. He also had coldly killed at least 10 people, by his own count, as a mob enforcer.     In a sworn deposition, Bowers recounted the conversation:     ‘‘You’re doing a wonderful job,’’ Barone told him. ‘‘We...

Decades After Brando, Waterfront Still Mobbed Up   BAYONNE, N.J.  — At the headquarters of New Jersey's most notorious union, the ornate front windows are etched with an anchor-and-rope motif. They're opaque, making it impossible to peer inside International Longshoremen's Association (search) Local 1588.That hasn't stopped law enforcement. Local 1588 was historically so corrupt that mob enforcers were unnecessary, according to one veteran investigator. Kickbacks, extortion and fraud became as routine as a Labor Day picnic at the local, long a lucrative outpost for the Genovese (search) crime family. In 1954, when Marlon Brando (search) starred in the Oscar-winning "On The Waterfront," one of 1588's delegates was...

<p>His spokesman said the governor's decision was unrelated to a brewing controversy surrounding allegations that the union paying for the trip has mob ties.</p> <p>McGreevey delivered the keynote address to the convention of the International Longshoremen's Association in San Juan yesterday, one day after the union's president told delegates that he expected his organization would soon be named in a federal racketeering suit.</p>

The association of West Coast port operators said yesterday that it had complained to the Justice Department that the dock workers were engaging in a "concerted, systematic work slowdown." The group, the Pacific Maritime Association, asked the government to act, asserting that productivity had fallen to 34 percent below normal in Oakland, Calif.; 29 percent below normal in Portland, Ore.; and 27 percent below in Seattle. Joseph Miniace, the president of the association, said, "The International Longshore and Warehouse Union is playing games with the U.S. economy, and inflicting economic pain and hardship on scores of companies and their employees."...

As President Bush begins the process of intervening in the West Coast port debacle, America is baffled that a small union local of 10,500 longshoremen has been able to gain a chokehold on the flailing economy. Indeed, concerns are increasing that the $2 billion-a-day port closures could push the nation into double-dip recession. This is a threat to the nation's well-being, and it deserves a response as resolute as the one the president is making on the international scene. Although invoking the Taft-Hartley Act may temporarily reopen the ports, it does not confront the underlying problem -- government-granted union coercive...

Are the longshoremen responsible for shutting down the West Coast ports? - The shippers association is trying to break the union. The shippers association is responsible. 54% - The longshoremen started this dispute with a work slow down. They are at fault. 16% - U.S. economy is already under attack by our enemies. It does not matter who is at fault. Open the ports. 30% poll link here This is a big political mess. This strike is set at this time so Bush can be made to look to be against labor. He is going to have to order the...

ENSENADA, Mexico (AP) - This sleepy tourist resort has awakened with a jolt. Used to surviving mainly on fishermen and cruise ships, it is suddenly doing its best to serve cargo ships marooned off the western United States. More than 10,000 U.S.-bound containers have been unloaded at Ensenada and seven other Mexican ports since Sept. 27, when a dispute between shipping lines and dock workers led to a shutdown of all major western U.S. ports. Mexico's ports lack the infrastructure to handle more than a fraction of the cargo languishing on nearly 200 ships stuck off the U.S. coast. The...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Hours after talks broke down between West Coast port workers and shipping lines, President Bush took a first step toward ordering longshoremen back onto the job Monday. Bush formed a board of inquiry to determine the impact of a dispute draining up to $2 billion a day from the U.S. economy. The board will make a quick assessment of the economic damage and determine whether the two sides are negotiating in good faith. Its formation was required before the president can order an 80-day cooling-off period that would force longshoremen back to work. Bush has not decided...

Via CNBC Europe: Dock strike talks have fallen apart and broken off. More TK.

By SANTIAGO PEREZ MEXICO CITY - Mexico's Pacific coast ports are lowering docking rates, expanding storage room and speeding up land deliveries to handle a dramatic increase in ship traffic due to a port shutdown on the U.S. West Coast. A bitter contract dispute has stopped all commercial shipping at 29 U.S. Pacific ports for nearly a week, disrupting major trade operations from Asia. Consequently, ships are being diverted south to Mexico. Since Monday, the port of Ensenada, located about 100 miles (160 kms) south of San Diego, has been docking at least two additional vessels a day originally bound...

<p>The association representing dozens of major shipping lines said today they are locking out longshore workers at all Pacific ports until Sunday morning as part of what it called a “cooling-off period” in contract negotiations.</p> <p>The dramatic move by the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents more than 80 shipping lines and terminal operators, will likely have an immediate ripple effect in Hawai‘i — which gets 90 percent of its goods by container ship — and comes after the group said that longshore workers were staging work slowdowns yesterday afternoon in Oakland, as well as Seattle and Tacoma, Wash.</p>

<p>SAN FRANCISCO ­ West Coast docks sped toward renewed labor unrest today as shipping lines accused longshoremen of staging work slowdowns after their union expressed frustration over contract talks by urging members to work "in strict accordance" with safety regulations. Longshoremen began staging slowdowns this afternoon in Oakland, as well as Seattle and Tacoma, Wash., according to Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shipping lines and terminal operators.</p>