Thoughts on Fast Food Strike: Capitalism in Progress



There have a been a lot grumblings about the Fast Food Workers Strike.  Normally, the grumblings reside in the comment sections for sites and Facebook. 

The usual terms get thrown around "want something for nothing," "entitlements", "pull yourself up by the boot straps", and many more other clichés to characterize the movement as lazy people trying to come up without working for it.

Lots of talk about "if you double the wages, it will double the price of your Big Mac, Whoppers, and Frosties."  Let's not tout our own education and in the same reader comment post says something uneducated like "if you double the salary, it will double the price of the Big Mac."  I am sorry that is dumb.  "Nobody is going to pay more for a Big Mac."  We're not?  Are you serious?

In 1986, the Big Mac cost $1.60.  In 1996, the Big Mac cost $2.36.  In 2006, you paid $3.10 and right now you are paying $4.20.  As longs as McDonald's are putting out food that we don't have to cook ourselves (no matter how bad it is for us) we are going to buy it.

All that's not even my original rant that made me waddle off the couch after finishing my Biggie-sized fries and Dr Pepper to the kitchen table to type this up. 

My rant is about how so many pro-capitalism people do not see this for what is.  These strikes are an example of Capitalism.  We are watching a group of people who are negotiating a price for the services they provide.  Imagine that minimum wage workers using capitalism to their benefit. 

These people are telling the franchise owners and corporations what they believe the market is for the service they provide.  Isn't that what every American does when they try to negotiate their salary, during merit raises evaluations, or trying to win that contract bid?

Let's watch capitalism in progress.

Andres Aguilar is one of the hosts of the TNA Show.  The TNA Show is live every Friday night from 9 to 11 pm at fbrn.us in the Talk Bowl. 

fbrn.us Election Coverage Show!

BREAKING NEWS!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Andres Aguilar

Tel. 214-900-7140

Email: info@thetnashow.com

fbrn.us Election Coverage Show!

(Arlington, TX) On Tuesday night, November 6th, The Fishbowl Radio Network (fbrn.us) will air the network's 1^st ever fbrn.us Election Coverage Show. This year's Presidential Election will be a close one and fbrn.us will be there to help listeners navigate through the results. This historical show will be anchored by Andres Aguilar, Co-Host of The TNA Show, and Brooks Sommer, host of Battle for the Republic from 7-9 pm in at fbrn.us in the Talk Bowl with contributions from their fellow fbrn.us hosts.

Tune in on November 6^th, Tuesday, from 7-9 pm in the Talk Bowl!

Andres Aguilar, one of the hosts of The TNA Show, has been involved in campaigns that consist of Get Out of the Vote efforts for Dallas County Democrats in 2000 and 2002, volunteering for many local campaigns, and was once a candidate for Duncanville ISD Board of Trustees. The TNA Show consists of two brothers, Turo and Andres, with John Anthony commenting on current events, sports, music, movies, and everything they think they know about. The show is live on Friday nights from 9-11 pm in the Talk Bowl.

Brooks Sommer holds two graduate degrees, the first in Latin American history with a minor in military history and his second degree is in Statecraft and National Security Affairs with a focus on public diplomacy and political warfare.  Brooks has worked as Manager of Operations at the Institute of World Politics, a graduate school of National Security and International Affairs, where he co-managed the internship program. He has traveled to Europe and Central America and has spent some time in the Middle East. Brooks and his show were honored with the Best Show in the Talk Bowl at this year's fbrn.us Sharky Award Ceremony. The Battle for the Republic is live on Thursday afternoons from 3-5 pm in the Talk Bowl.

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For more information about The TNA Show, email Andres Aguilar at info@thetnashow.com or please call FishBowl Radio Network at 817-633-4880.

The TNA Show Takes Second

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Andres Aguilar

Tel. 214-900-7140

Email: info@thetnashow.com

The TNA Show Wins Silver!

(Ft. Worth, TX) On Saturday night, September 22^nd, The Fishbowl Radio Network (fbrn.us) held their 3^rd Annual Sharky Awards at the Rose Marine Theater in Ft Worth. FBRN was celebrating their 3^rd Anniversary and held an Olympic theme award ceremony where they gave Bronze, Silver, and Gold medals in 20 different categories. Winners were determined by a mix of FBRN hosts ballots, listeners online voting, network crew members, and 10 radio veterans from across the country.

The TNA Show, Turo and Andres with JohnAnthony, accepted a Silver Medal for the 2012 fbrn.us Live Broadcast Remote Of The Year. The award winning event took place at North Oak Cliff Beer and Wine, (1301 W. Davis, Dallas, TX) on February 19, 2012 for the Oak Cliff Mardi Gras Parade. The TNA Show hosted the Remote with other FBRN Shows like Healthy Now, Healthy Later, Universe of the 80's, and Web We Weave.

“It was a surprise to us. We honestly did not expect this and we appreciate the recognition from the listeners, FBRN, and the network owner, Sammi G. 2012 was a good year, and we are looking forward to having a even bigger year in 2013” said Andres Aguilar, on of the hosts of The TNA Show.

To listen to The TNA Show, you can go to fbrn.us and click on the “Talk Bowl” every Friday, from 9 to 11 pm (CST) or log on to www.thetnashow.com.

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For more information about The TNA Show, email Andres Aguilar at info@thetnashow.com or please call FishBowl Radio Network at 817-633-4880.

Out Of District

It is election season time and political parties are trying to sort out who will be their nominees for the Fall Showdown.  Primary voters are kicking the tires on candidates before buying into the campaigns.  Candidates are traveling around various districts selling their message and letting potential voters know what they can do for them.

 

The voters are looking for many different issues and stances of the campaigns.  These are important decisions to make.  In the case of Congressional campaigns, citizens are going to choose someone from their district to be their representative in D.C.

 

What happens when the candidates you have to choose from do not live in the district they are trying to represent?  Should a candidate asking you to buy into their campaign have to buy into your neighborhoods and be a resident?  I know this happens a lot where a candidate does not live in one of the groups of neighborhoods they want to represent, like in Texas Congressional District 35 where you have 3 candidates vying for the Democratic Nomination.  Out of the three, only one lives in the district.  Only one candidate can vote for themselves.

 

Every candidate is making the case that they will be the hardest worker and strongest voice for the district.  However, two of the three are only willing to be your neighbor if you vote for them.  In the same district, the Republican Party has three candidates and of those three, only one lives in the district.  There is a 66% chance that the two candidates for November could be two people who could not even vote for themselves in the May primaries.

 

If you were to ask all six candidates for District 35 who they will vote for Congress in May only Maria Luisa Alvarado (Democrat) and Susan Narvaiz (Republican) can vote for themselves.

 

This issue was brought to my attention by an article by Ken Herman (Austin American Statesman).  So the question now is does it matter to you if a candidate is from your District?

Sunday Morning Thoughts of Andres: Real Football

The NFL season is fast approaching and watching Dallas Cowboy's Football is how I like to spend my Sundays. Waiting for the season to start has me thinking about being a kid and loving football.

When I was a kid, (starting a sentence this way is the first sign that I am officially old) I used to play football in the street at my aunt's house. Actually on the concrete and our timeouts were when the cars would come driving down the road and half time was when Tia Lucy said lunch was ready. We dived for catches on the concrete and would slide out of bounds on the gravel. I still missing skin from my elbow and knees. We would put vicious hits on whatever receiver was dumb enough to leap in the air for a catch. There were no roofs and air conditioning units keeping you cool when the other unit is on the field. In fact, there was no other unit, you played offense and defense and everybody who wanted to play was on the field the whole game.

The "football" we are watching now is the wussifcation of the game. Punting and Fieldgoals? In real football you don't kick, you go for it on 4th down every time. These players are wearing pads and helmets with cushion to avoid concussions so they can prolong their career. When we played, we left it all on the line and didn't worry about being able to play next season. They also have this silly rule about pass interference . Pass interference? For us pass interference was when the quarterback throw the ball too high and it got stuck in the oak tree hanging over the street. I am not going to get started on "Late Hits" on the quarterback.

All I am saying is real football players play on concrete, and not on a football field with pads.

An old school football warrior,
Andres

Pathway To Leadership

Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat from Illinois, has re-introduced the DREAM Act in the U.S. Senate. The DREAM Act will give undocumented people, who immigrated to the U.S. as a child by their parents, legal status. These were children who did not make a decision to come to the U.S. but are here because of decisions that their parents made for them. These children have been educated in our public schools and depending on the state they reside in, can attend college, but after graduation they will not be able to be legally hired anywhere.

The Republican Senator from Texas, John Cornyn often cites his support for a version of the DREAM Act, but has only voted for it once in 2003. Recently, he was giving a speech at the NALEO convention in San Antonio and was interrupted for his record on the DREAM Act. With the re-introduction of the bill and the treatment he received from NALEO, it looks like John Cornyn has a chance to change minds.

Senator Cornyn has a chance to be included in the next version of Profiles in Courage. I have come up with plan for Senator Cornyn to earn a "pathway to leadership."

1. Sign up to be a sponsor of the bill
2. Work to change what he thinks is wrong with the bill
3. Actively lobby other Republican Senators to join him
4. Help recruit House Republicans and public support for the bill
5. Most importantly, vote for the DREAM Act

The Senator has a chance to make his actions match his rhetoric. We will have to wait and see if he has the courage to do it. I hope he doesn't choose the Senator McCain route and sell out.

~Andres

The Real Focus

Our friends at NewsTaco.com posted a blog post by Dr. Henry Flores Ph.D entitled Hispanic? Latino? Mexicano? Chicano? Does it Matter?

This post brings to light a conversation that, according to Dr Flores, Latinos are having "online and in various closed door meetings." I agree with him. In fact I find myself discussing this issue quite often in both venues. I am not going to get into the "I don't like labels but I label myself this way" conversation, which usually ends with me looking for BC Powder in my wife's purse to make the sharp pain in my head go away. It seems some are looking for people to rally under one banner and trying to figure out what the banner should be.

Some of the titles suggested and used by some are Hispanic, Chicano, Mexicano, Latino, and/or Tejano. Everyone has their own preference on how to describe themselves whether it is one of these or a host of others to choose from. Each one has its own meaning and personal connotations attached to it. At the end of the conversation, I don't think people are brought closer together and ready to unify under one banner.

I would equate stopping "to find our banner to unite under one voice" to "waiting for our time"; both slogans tend to stop the progress of a movement. In my opinion, once we picked a name to call ourselves, we will alienate some portions of our coalition. If we choose the word Hispanics, some people who prefer Latinos will either drop out of the movement or start their own movement under a different banner and vice versa. I think it is detrimental to our cause to label ourselves. It benefits the movement to focus on our agenda instead.

Our banner should be our issues. We should let them figure out who and what we are and how to deal with us. I contend it does not matter what we call ourselves if we do not succeed in advancing our agenda. Always remember, the winners write the history books and we can pick a name when it is time to write.

When they want to talk about Hispanics, Latinos, Chicanos, Mexicanos, and Tejanos, we should talk about education, healthcare, comprehensive immigration, jobs, and other issues that affect our community. I honestly believe that we should not waste time or energy debating each other over what we are going to call ourselves or what uniform we are wearing, and instead use that energy to define and advance our agenda.

If we are really intent on wearing a label, let's start with this: "Voter"!

~Andres

What Would You Ask?

One reason people do not vote is because they do not know the people running or what they stand for. Dallas has a runoff mayoral election taking place on June 18th and the two candidates are Mike Rawlings, www.mikerawlingsfordallas.com, and David Kunkle, www.davidkunkle.com. You can visit both of their websites and learn more.

I will be calling both campaigns before the election and asking them some questions concerning their campaigns. I would like to ask them questions from our fans and listeners.

If you could ask Mike Rawlings and David Kunkle a question, what would you ask them?

~Andres

Food for Thought

Saw this quote on a blogger's Facebook page:

“Bad politicians are sent to (Austin) Washington by good people who don't vote.” ~ William E. Simon

I think this is a very true statement. How do we send good politicians?

~Andres

Amnesty for Oklahoma Senator?

It has been speculated on Rachel Maddow's blog that the Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn has received immunity for his "role in the investigation involving former Senator John Ensign." Click here to read it.

This is interesting, especially since Senator Coburn has voted against, in his words, "amnesty" when he voted against Comprhensive Immigration Reform and the DREAM Act.

I guess amnesty is okay when given to Senator Coburn. What part of illegal doesn't he understand?

~Andres

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Whether we are parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, neighbors, teachers, mentors, or community leaders, we encourage children to do good in school, work hard to be whatever they want be, and encourage them to be leaders. We want them to be successful, productive people so we are constantly reminding and trying to set the best example.

Prepping them to be leaders or at least not simply be blind followers starts early with sayings like "if Timmy jumps off a cliff, would you?" or chastise them by saying "monkey see, monkey do" when they get in trouble for following someone else's lead. We would rather our children plow their own path as opposed to someone else dictating their route.

More often than not, we are probably repeating the same themes our parents tried to instill in us. One of the simplest ways we can take a stand, be a leader, and not blindly follow decisions others have made for us is by voting.

For some reason a lot of us don't vote. In Dallas County alone, where municipal elections were just held, only 11% of registered voters participated. Let me put that another way: out of 1,074,042 registered voters only 119,077 voted. That means 954,965 did not. Wow, pretty sad!

We are content in letting people make rules, ordinances, and laws for us to follow with no input from us. We are content with missing an opportunity to show our kids how to practice what we preach. We are content with sending the message to our kids that our words are empty. To me it is very hypocritical to expect our kids to do what we can do ourselves, yet we don't.

Are we all just hypocrites?

~Andres

April 29, 2011

Wow, another great show! Turo, Andres, JohnAnthony are joined by a new fluffer, Angel. Turo hosted another great segment of FAT Sports and Andres seeked advice about whether or not to do Zumba with his wife. Victor Landa from News Taco joined via Skype to discuss Hispanic Voter turnout and the ramification of President Obama releasing his birth certificate. Listen for these and other great topics!

March 18, 2011

Another a great episode of The TNA Show, Turo and Andres with JohnAnthony discuss the passing of Nate Dogg, and get into another installment of FAT Sports. They go over the 15 Worst Sports Fans in America, find out where Dallas Cowboys fans rank. Andres brings the crap bag back. The crew discuss Kansas Republican's remarks about shooting immigrants from a helicopter and they give their two cents about it. Take notes when the show discusses 11 remedies to a hangover! Don't forget to make plans to see House on Mango Street from March 31st to April 9th, there will be a special preview on March 26th for a special $10 price. Get more details at www.caramiatheatre.com.

Catch us live every Friday night from 9-11 pm in the Redbowl at Fishbowl Radio Network.

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Vick Has The Keys!

Dallas' Mayor Pro-tem gives Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback "key" to the city. It is captured here on a video posted by Radio Show Host, Richard Hunter.

Which is more offensive, Vick getting a "key" to the city of Dallas or not stopping to talk to Richard Hunter who has adopted one of the bait dogs from Vick's dog fighting endeavor? Check out the video and let us know.