This short piece is well worth watching and one appreciating what we have along with noting that if it were not for FDR & the Democrats this is where many of us would be.


Granny Orchid cleans the streets of Hong Kong seven days a week.

Despite being one of the richest cities in the world, many elderly people live in poverty.

So Granny Orchid earns extra money collecting boxes for recycling.

Video produced by Daniel South, Yashan Zhao, Meiqing Guan and Zhejun Wang

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-50784231/meet-hong-kong-s-grannies-forced-to-collect-cardboard

Bruce LeCroix, a retired member of Meatcutters Local 88, and a group of other retired members from other skilled trade unions make up the Royal Order of the Squirrels, a group that admittedly garners laughs for its name, but when it comes to their organization, there is nothing funny about it.

For more than two decades, the Christian service organization has been doing good deeds in the community and playing Santa’s elves when the Christmas season hits. LeCroix’s brother Kevin, a union carpenter, and Eric, a union laborer, are usually helping side by side with other union brothers and sisters to restore bicycles for kids at Christmas. Meeting space is donated by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1 signatory contractor Grasser Electric.

Long before Christmastime, months in advance, the Squirrels start collecting forgotten bicycles found stashed in the corners of basements, taking them to their shop and refurbishing them.

“It’s not just new bicycle chains, air in the tires or a new seat,” Bruce LeCroix said. “We completely bring the bikes back to like new. The bikes are then given to the children after we finish — down to painting and polishing scrapes on the paint.”

https://labortribune.com/skilled-union-squirrels-restore-bicycles-for-christmas/

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/acosta-says-consumer-behavior-industry-trends-led-to-chapter-11-bankruptcy

Acosta Inc. and affiliated companies filed their prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions Sunday, saying in court documents changes in consumer behavior and industry trends have hurt its business in recent years.

The Jacksonville-based sales and marketing company announced last month it would file a prepackaged reorganization plan to convert about $3 billion of debt to equity, with the approval of a majority of its creditors.

Acosta filed its petitions in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

The court documents do not give specific financial details for Acosta but its disclosure statement said the company has lost $631 million in revenue since 2015, without giving a figure for total revenue. Florida Trend magazine estimated Acosta’s 2018 revenue at $2.3 billion.

FLORISSANT — A two-term member of the Florissant City Council resigned Monday after it was revealed he had a felony conviction from 20 years ago.

According to Florissant Mayor Tim Lowery’s office, Ward 2 Council member Timothy M. Jones submitted a brief letter explaining his decision to step down after consulting with a city attorney.

Under state law, felons cannot hold elective office.

Court records show Jones, 52, was convicted of driving while intoxicated in St. Charles County in 1999. He received a four-year sentence that was suspended in exchange for him serving 120 days in a shock incarceration program operated by the Missouri Department of Corrections.

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/old-felony-conviction-trips-up-two-term-florissant-city-council/article_36ee4f75-a19d-52da-9f86-e1bdd97b82cb.html

Dollar Tree was issued a warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week for receiving “potentially unsafe” over-the-counter drugs from foreign companies that the government says are not following proper manufacturing practices.

These offshore manufacturers produce Dollar Tree's Assured brand of over-the-counter drugs and other health care products, including acne treatment pads, sold at Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores, according to the FDA. Randy Guiler, Dollar Tree's vice president of investor relations, said in a statement that the acne pad and an antibacterial wipe are the products he's “aware of” that come from the manufacturers cited by the FDA.

The agency says that some of these companies failed to test raw materials and the finished products before distributing them, while others falsified test results and had rodent feces in their facilities. These manufacturers have in the past received warning letters of their own from the FDA. Dollar Tree was notified when these warning letters were sent, the FDA says. The FDA has not issued any formal recall of the affected products.

"Protecting patient health and safety is our highest priority, and the FDA continues to investigate and take action against companies that place U.S. patients at risk,” Donald D. Ashley, director of the Office of Compliance in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement.

https://www.aarp.org/health/drugs-supplements/info-2019/dollar-tree-fda-warning-otc-drugs.html?intcmp=Outbrain&obref=obnetwork

On 13 October 1948, President Harry Truman made an appearance in St. Paul, Minnesota, stumping on behalf of both his own re-election campaign and a bid by the mayor of Minneapolis, fellow Democrat Hubert Humphrey, to land a seat in the U.S. Senate. During that appearance in St. Paul, President Truman delivered an address at the city’s Municipal Auditorium which was carried on a nationwide radio broadcast and included the criticism of the Republican Party.

"Today the forces of liberalism face a crisis. The people of the United States must make a choice between two ways of living — a decision which will affect us the rest of our lives and our children and our grandchildren after us.

On the other side, there is the Wall Street way of life and politics. Trust the leader! Let big business take care of prices and profits! Measure all things by money! That is the philosophy of the masters of the Republican Party.

Well, I have been studying the Republican Party for over 12 years at close hand in the Capital of the United States. And by this time, I have discovered where the Republicans stand on most of the major issues.

Since they won’t tell you themselves, I am going to tell you.

They approve of the American farmer — but they are willing to help him go broke.

They stand four-square for the American home — but not for housing.

They are strong for labor — but they are stronger for restricting labor’s rights.

They favor a minimum wage — the smaller the minimum the better.

They indorse educational opportunity for all — but they won’t spend money for teachers or for schools.

They think modern medical care and hospitals are fine — for people who can afford them.

They approve of Social Security benefits — so much so that they took them away from almost a million people.

They believe in international trade — so much so that they crippled our reciprocal trade program, and killed our International Wheat Agreement.

They favor the admission of displaced persons — but only within shameful racial and religious limitations.

They consider electric power a great blessing — but only when the private power companies get their rake-off.

They say TVA is wonderful — but we ought never to try it again.

They condemn “cruelly high prices” — but fight to the death every effort to bring them down.

They think the American standard of living is a fine thing — so long as it doesn’t spread to all the people.

And they admire the Government of the United States so much that they would like to buy it.

Now, my friends, that is the Wall Street Republican way of life. But there is another way — there is another way — the Democratic way, the way of the Democratic Party."

Democrat Trish Gunby won a convincing victory Tuesday in a hotly contested Missouri House race in west St. Louis County.

Final unofficial returns showed Gunby with 3,357 votes, or 54%, and Republican Lee Ann Pitman with 2,855 votes, or 46%.

The district, including areas such as Ballwin, Manchester, Valley Park and Twin Oaks, had been inundated with mailings, canvassers, radio ads and other get-out-the-vote efforts.

Both parties focused money and other attention on the district because it was considered winnable for either side.



https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/democrat-trish-gunby-wins-hotly-contested-missouri-house-race-in/article_8e0213a0-4618-5128-8350-5e3ada87daa4.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-2

St. Louis County Executive Sam Page nominated two new members to the five-person Board of Police Commissioners on Friday.

Page picked former Missouri Supreme Court Judge Ray Price and local attorney Michelle Schwerin. The lawyers are meant to replace Laurie Westfall, the widow of former County Executive Buzz Westfall, and Roland Corvington, a former FBI agent who stepped down from the police board earlier in the week.

The nominations still need confirmation by the county council. Neither nominee could be reached for comment Friday.

Page has said he was looking to replace police board members for a number of weeks, but he stepped up efforts over the past few days after a jury awarded a gay police officer $20 million in a discrimination lawsuit.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/former-supreme-court-judge-and-attorney-picked-st-louis-county-police-board

There are hundreds of thousands of Missouri families who don’t know where their next meal is coming from.

Despite some progress, the state is still higher than the national average for food insecurity.

A recent report from the United States Department of Agriculture shows Missouri has improved hunger levels throughout the state. Compared to one year ago, levels are down almost one full percentage point. However, 11.7% is the national average of food insecurity, and Missouri sits at 12%.

Jeanette Mott Oxford, executive director of Empower Missouri, wants to see nutritional programs strengthened.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/1-6-missouri-children-go-hungry-every-day-usda-report-finds

The State Emergency Operations Center in Johnston, Iowa, has sloped auditorium-style seating and plenty of outlets to keep laptops and cell phones charged. This is where officials gather during and immediately after tornadoes and massive flooding.

It’s the center for crisis control.

That’s why in September, this space at the Iowa National Guard headquarters became the incident command center for a four day simulation exercise to test how well prepared Iowa and the other top pork-producing states are for an African swine fever outbreak.

The threat to the pork industry feels imminent – especially in this state, which raises more pigs than any other.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/african-swine-fever-continues-its-march-across-asia-us-pork-industry-preps-emergency