Wal-Mart is at it again. According to Bloomberg.com, Wal-Mart has, once again, been wantonly disrespecting its disabled employees, and they're losing lawsuits to prove it. Patrick Brady, who has cerebral palsy, was hired in 2002 as a Pharmacy Clerk at the Centereach, New York Wal-Mart.  

[He was] transferred on his second day to a job picking up garbage and collecting shopping carts in the parking lot because a manager said he was too slow.

The judge ruled the jury was justified in concluding Wal- Mart recklessly or willfully disregarded the requirements of the law. He said the move to a less prestigious job could be considered a demotion and the initial transfer caused Brady emotional distress.

The judge ruled that Wal-Mart would have to pay $900,000 in damages. This amount is down from a $7.5 million verdict awarded by a jury. A judge cut the $5 million in punitive damages the jury had awarded to the maximum allowable $300,000 under the ADA.

Just last month, we told you about another suit in which Wal-Mart had to pay a pharmacy worker $250,000 for wrongfully firing her because of a gunshot wound. Before that, a man was fired from his Wal-Mart job for nothing less than using his wheelchair at work.

So I guess there are some exceptions when Daphne Moore, Wal-Mart's spokeswoman, says, "We believe in respecting the dignity of every individual and do not tolerate any form of discrimination."

Hillaryism

Defined as the belief that one is intrinsically superior to clinging members of the cult of Hillary Clinton.  The targets of this vial hatred are referred to as Hillaryists or Hilbs, as in "he's a freekin' hilb*, let's bust his balls."

Like racism and sexism before it, Hillaryism is found in all levels of society and raises it's ugly head in social circles and the work place.  Stories are beginning to come into this news room of people being threatened with loss of their job should they not seek a cure for what psychologists believe may be a fundamental problem in the hope receptor capacity of certain individuals.  

Cures range from the controversial mind wipe to the simplistic but often dangerous rally attendance wherein an affected individual is dragged kicking and screaming by his/her loved ones into a rally so their ears may finally hear the voice.  Thankfully it normally takes only one treatment to cure even the toughest cases.

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is fast tracking a study as to the viability of adding Hilbs to the list of disabilities covered under the ADA.  Check back later for updates.

* HILB is a derivation of the derogatory term HillBot.

  Before there were Progressives there were Liberals
 And before there were Liberals there were Progressives.

In the golden age of the Progressive movement we had Teddy Roosevelt, Fighting Bob Lafollette and Eugene Debs.  These gave way to liberals like Eleanor Roosevelt and John Kenneth Galbraith. Now we are in the age where it is not good to be liberal but we have assumed the mantel of Progressive again.

  As a friend and colleague of mine noted we have seen another end of an era.  With the passing of former Congressman Jim Jontz we have loss a tireless fighter for farmers, workers and the environment. A true liberal with a progressive heart.  

(Cross-posted at Daily Kos)

It's the last Part of the latest lifetime vote ratings from the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) and the American Conservative Union (ACU).  Today, I wrap-up with House conservatives.

Raw data:

ADA:  http://adaction.org

ACU:  http://acuratings.com

It's Part IV of the latest lifetime vote ratings from the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) and the American Conservative Union (ACU).  Today, it's the moderate-leaning members of the House.  Tomorrow, I wrap-up with  House conservatives.

Raw data:

ADA:  http://adaction.org

ACU:  http://acuratings.com

(Cross-posted at Daily Kos)

It's Part III of the latest lifetime vote ratings from the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) and the American Conservative Union (ACU).  Today, it's members of the House on the liberal end of the spectrum.  Tomorrow, House moderates, then House conservatives on Friday.

(Cross-posted at Daily Kos)

Part II of my lifetime vote rating averages from Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) and the American Conservative Union (ACU).  Today, I show the Senate.

Frist diary ever!  Also, cross-posted with Daily Kos, but I thought the folks at MyDD would find this interesting.  I'm looking at the updated voting records amongst those in Congress.  What I do (and have done for the last 3 years) is take the lifetime voting ratings of two organizations, Americans for Democratic Action, and the American Conservative Union, and average their ratings to come up with what I consider something close to a definitive vote ratking for all members of Congress.  This aims to show how liberal, moderate or conservative a given member of Congress is.