Egyptians Send Pizza to Protestors in Wisconsin

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In an act of intercontinental solidarity, an Egyptian has ordered a pizza for Wisconsin protesters, reports Politico. The call from Africa is just one of many streaming into the Madison, Wisc., pizza parlor Ian's from all over the world. So far, people from 12 countries and 38 states have rung up looking to help get free pizza to the Wisconsin protesters clustered in the Capitol. On Saturday, Ian's distributed more than 1,000 free slices and sent 300 pizzas to the Capitol. The trend continued on Sunday, as staff member fielded calls from as far away as Turkey, Korea, Finland, China, and Australia. The trend began when a mother of a University of Wisconsin student called in offering to donate $200 to feed the people occupying the Capitol. The pizza chain's postings on Twitter and Facebook soon led to so many donations that they had to shut down on Saturday night.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/49888.html#ixzz1EXkqdxcu

Sort of gives me hope for the world.

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@Green Witch,

Long live the Pizza Revolution? Has a good ring to it I suppose. Smile

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I didnt know about it, so in case others have missed the basis for pizzas (pizza base ??), see the following :

Quote:

MADISON, WI -- On Friday, February 11th, at the same hour that the world watched the former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak resign his post, the newly appointed Republican Governor of Wisconsin quietly launched a ferocious attack on public sector unions -- and the very notion of organized labor in America.

For nearly fifty years unions have sought to safeguard and advance their rights through a process known as collective bargaining, which is the the most powerful tool labor has for peacefully resolving disputes and ensuring workers a voice in negotiations on everything from fair wages to safety conditions and sick leave.

The bill championed by Wisconsin's governor takes dead aim at this process by stripping most state workers of many of their collective bargaining rights. Union leaders have responded uproariously, claiming that the bill effectively guts public unions of their most critical asset in a state that pioneered many of the fundamental fights for worker's rights. Political chaos has ensued on both sides. State Democrats fled the state last week to prevent a vote on the legislature, while many Republican governors -- some who already have similar bills on the table -- watch carefully to see, if the bill succeeds, how they might pass anti-union legislature in their own states.

<br /> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/21/wisconsin-protests-_n_826246.html

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@Ionus,

It is sort of an American thing. The joke is people are protesting for freedom throughout the Middle East - oh, and Wisconsin.

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@Green Witch,

Awesome!

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@sozobe,

Meanwhile, while the Senate is one body short of having enough members around to vote on the the hotly debated issue prompting the furor, they can move on to other issues.
Up tomorrow: a resolution congratulating the Packers.

1 Reply

@Green Witch,

Quote:

The joke is people are protesting for freedom throughout the Middle East - oh, and Wisconsin.

It amazes me that some people have forgotten what life was like without unions. The governments did nothing unless there was absolutely no choice. Many complained and protested the poor treatment of workers, some actually did something, but it was the workers themselves who got things moving. Do we want to go back to what it was like ?

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@realjohnboy,

They have a quorum for some issues, but not others?

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@Ionus,

Americans are hypocrites. We rant against our government who we can actually vote in or out, but we embrace the Corporate Nanny State that governs us like a bunch of little dictators directing it's minions. We consistently vote people into office who want to weaken us a whole and divert power to the wealthy few. When asked to help pay our own way we whine like five year olds who are told they have to use their own allowance to buy ice cream. Americans say they want to be independent, but what they really want is a magical sugar daddy who just gives them really cool stuff like bridges, schools, roads, police protection, job safety, smart teachers etc., without ever sending them a bill. Oh, there is an exception, we seem to be fine spending a billion dollars a week rebuilding the Iraq we broke.

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@Green Witch,

I see that as the fundamental issue with pairing Egypt and Wisconsin. The people in Egypt are fighting a repressive regime and asking for representative government. In Wisconsin they have all of that and they are getting exactly what they voted for. It's not like the people they voted into office were misleading in their positions when they were running. I'm glad the folks in Wisconsin are waking up to the natural evolution of the philosophy they voted into office, but if I were in Egypt, I wouldn't have a lot of sympathy.

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@engineer,

I'm sure many of those police and fireman, who are supporting the teachers, voted for the very people who are looking to change the unions bargaining powers. This probably says it best for what you're saying engineer:

http://s-ak.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/terminal01/2011/2/17/16/enhanced-buzz-13741-1297979988-29.jpg

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@engineer,

Very few of the decisions taken by a government are ever declared during an election.

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@Green Witch,

I quite like USAians but I have always been surprised at how divided they are and how they refuse to help their own poor people.

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@Ionus,

No Trojan horse here. The Tea Party was very clear as to what they would do once in office. It would be absurd for someone to have voted for them and then claim they didn't know what they were supporting in the way of political decisions . TTP supporters wouldn't even have to read a newspaper, they could just watch the conservative FOX news for a few minutes each night or a few TV commercials from the candidates on either side.

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@Ionus,

Ionus wrote:

Very few of the decisions taken by a government are ever declared during an election.

Conservative candidates in the last election were very clear in their goals: cut taxes, cut services. This stand is a natural evolution of that position. I haven't heard anyone in Wisconsin claiming they didn't understand what their politicians wanted to do. It was very clear.

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@Ionus,

There are most certainly 2 Americas, almost evenly divided. The problem is there is this razor thin group that can't up it's mind as to whose side they are on and they keep jumping back and forth creating constipation for the whole system. Americans might die protecting their neighbor next door, but don't ask them to help the guy a mile down the road who they will tell you is a terrorist or foreigner. I don't get it either.

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@engineer,

It is never clear. Most elections are jingoistic or vilify the opposition. The actual mechanisms for change are never discussed, they are simply given a word or phrase that is supposed to be meaningful? To who ? Most of the time they haven't worked out the details themselves. It is only when alternate budgets are produced that some facts can be pinned down, and even then you need to be an expert to wade through a budget.

Most government decisions are taken by a handful of people without the true knowledge or consent of the voters, let alone the people.

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@Ionus,

But you elect people of a general philosophy and you have some understanding of where that philosophy will lead. Sometimes there is a hidden agenda. I don't think that anyone who voted for Bush in 2000 recognized that he had the Iraq war up his sleeve. That is not the case in Wisconsin. Those elected made it very clear that they were going to cut costs and cut taxes. That was their entire election pitch. Government workers were always part of the vilified group. There was absolutely no deception on the part of the Wisconsin Republican party or their candidates. Wisconsin is getting exactly what it was promised when it elected these guys. This is how democracy is supposed to work. This is as far from Egypt as possible.

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@engineer,

I agree with you, engineer, we are forever electing people and then moaning about it later, we should remember that elections have consequences. We might not have know Bush had Iraq up his sleeve, but we knew it the second time. Those campaigned in Wisconsin, could not have been more clear, but because it sounds good to "smaller government" people vote without realizing what smaller government means. We are not tortured and oppressed like the people in these other countries and there is plenty of information on those running for elected office.

The only thing I think is that if we don't want all our rights to be taken away and be ruled by corporations posing as grass roots organizations (kock brothers and Bradley foundation...) we will back to the days before unions working for pennies while the rich just get richer and we will no one to blame but ourselves unlike those in Egypt and elsewhere.

The Last Time Scott Walker Went Union Busting, He Was Overruled And Wasted Taxpayer Dollars

The people in Wisconsin should have known.

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@roger,

roger wrote:

They have a quorum for some issues, but not others?

Yes, 20 votes needed to pass any bill involving spending but only 17 for nonfiscal measures.

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Egyptians Send Pizza to Protestors in Wisconsin

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