Tag Archives: labor history

Ypsilanti’s most despicable son, Harry Bennett

By Mark | June 2, 2014

In advance of the release of The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War, which is set to hit bookstores on Tuesday, Salon.com is running a salacious excerpt on the questionable activities of Ford enforcer, and notorious Ypsilanti resident, Harry Bennett. Here’s a taste. Henry Ford was […]

Posted in History, Ypsilanti | Also tagged A Stiff Game, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War, Chester LaMare, Detroit, Ford Service Department, Harry Bennett, Henry Ford, porn, private police force, Rouge plant, Sailor Reese, The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, The Casting Director, the Ford stomach, union busting, unions | 14 Comments

The Untold History of Zines…. Pete “Dishwasher Pete” Jordan on Dishwasher

By Mark | January 28, 2014

In an attempt to better document the American underground press, or at least the sharp, tiny sliver of it that worked its way through the gristle surrounding my heart 20-some years ago, I’ve given myself the task of reaching out to all of the zine publishers that I know, and asking them how they found […]

Posted in Crimewave USA, Special Projects, Uncategorized | Also tagged 1992, 1994, 2001, 50 state projects, adventure, Alaska, Alaska Fishermen’s Union, Allen Ginsberg, Amsterdam, Andy Kaufman, anonymity, Arizona, autobiographical, before the internet, bicycles, cannery, chain restaurants, Chloe Eudaly, Communism, Cracker Barrel, Craphound, creative control, cruise ships, cycling, David Letterman, dishdogs, dishes, Dishwasher, Dishwasher Pete, Dishwasher: One Man's Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States, dishwashing, drinking on the job, eschewing responsibility, expatriate, Factsheet Five, Farm Pulp, fish processing, free stuff, gags, Grand Canyon, Greg Hischak, Guinea Pig Zero, Haight -Ashbury, Hawaii, Huck Finn, humor, impersonation, In the City of Bikes, individual responsibility, integrity, internet, introverts, Jack-in-the-Box, juvenile delinquent, Kentucky, Kinko's, Kraft, labor movement, Late Night with David Letterman, mac and cheese, mainstream media, Malcolm X, Mark Twain, media consolidation, Myrtle Beach, National Parks, people who we know from television, Pete Jordan, Phoenix, photocopying, pranks, radical politics, Reading Frenzy, responsibility, restaurants, restlessness, revolution, Richard Nixon, San Francisco, Scam, scams, self-publishing, shitty jobs, Silicon Valley, South Carolina, Sufjan Steven, television, Temp Slave, The Untold History of Zines, theft, This American Life, Uncle Tom, underground press, unions, urban planning, zines | 21 Comments

Making seed bombs with the awesome kids of Ypsi Middle School, and plotting to bring Billy Bragg to our May Day celebration

By Mark | April 29, 2013

I skipped breakfast this morning and headed over with Jeff Clark to make seed bombs with 7th and 8th graders at Ypsi Middle School. It was an incredible experience. The kids were enthusiastic, inquisitive, and just all-around awesome. And, thanks to their hard work, we now have over 500 seed bombs prepared for Wednesday’s big […]

Posted in Agriculture, Education, Environment, Special Projects, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Billy Bragg, buses, child labor, colony collapse, commons, David Chapman, dismantling of public education, food forests, free skool, Jeff Clark, Jesse Tack, May Day, Phil Patterson, potluck, public education, seed bombing, threats to public education, Tonia Porterfield, Water Street, West Middle School, Ypsi Middle School, Ypsilanti Free Skool, zines | 11 Comments

Jack Lessenberry to visit Ypsilanti and answer the question, “What does right-to-work mean for Michigan?”

By Mark | January 14, 2013

Tomorrow evening, at Ypsilanti’s Corner Brewery, celebrated Detroit journalist Jack Lessenberry will be hosting a panel discussion on Michigan’s newly passed anti-union (“right-to-work”) legislation, and how it will likely impact working Michiganders, their employers, and the financial prospects of the state. There’s scant information available online, but a friend who works for Michigan Radio tells […]

Posted in Media, Michigan, Politics, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Center for Automotive Research, Corner brewery, Daniel Howes, F. Vincent Vernuccio, Jack Lessenberry, Kristin Dziczek, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Matt Greff, NPR, Proposition 2, Rene Greff, right-to-work, Ron Weiser, union busting, unions | 29 Comments

Someone should tell Governor Snyder that a “perfect storm” isn’t generally considered a good thing

By Mark | January 8, 2013

The state of Michigan took out an incredibly-costly full-page ad in today’s Wall Street Journal, proudly announcing to the world not only that we’ve officially joined the likes of Alabama and Mississippi in becoming a so-called “right-to-work” state, but that we’ve finally put the embarrassing pro-labor legacy of the The Battle of the Overpass behind […]