Marble Falls         Despite the daily Chief Organizer’s Report and the Peoples’ Daily News, I carry around some random items that aren’t enough for a full report and don’t fit well anywhere, but at the same time seem worth sharing, even if not quite priceless.   Today, here are some examples of such odds and ends.

Thinking about tenants, when in Mumbai recently, there was an unforgettable brief report on a decision by the India Supreme Court acting to resolve a landlord-tenant dispute that had been going on for a quarter-century – 25 years!  In 2001, the tenant went to court to prevent eviction from the landlord’s property, which he wanted to turn into a location for a son’s business.  The tenant’s claim was that the landlord had other properties that he could use for that purpose, so he should be allowed to stay where he was in this particular property.  You have to admit, that in the light of most tenant organizing experience, this is already a Ripley’s Believe It or Not.  The High Court agreed that there were other properties, but reversed the lower trial courts, holding that “The landlord is the best judge to decide which of his properties should be vacated for satisfying his particular need.  The tenant has no role in dictating as to which premises the landlord should get vacated….”  Wow!  India, what a country!  Living in the rest of the world where property is king and ownership often say all, how was the tenant able to drag this out for 25 years?  Amazing!  This creates a whole new aspiration about what we should try to win in tenants’ rights.

Thinking about unions, in a bit of pre-Mardi Gras serendipity, I happened to run into David Melman, the union chief negotiator for Workers United, SEIU, who is at the table with Starbucks in recent years.  The union has won more than 500 elections, but hasn’t been able to get a first contract yet.  After a long delay, they are back at the table, and news reports and random comments from insiders claim they are closing in.  I had never met Melman, but as an organizer had followed the Starbucks organizing as closely as I could.  After some time spent on common comrades, we both knew, I tried to find out as much as possible.  Not wanting to betray any confidences, I’m glad to share that Melman is confident of a contract at this point, with the big issue mainly about money.  He believes Starbucks is not in position to continue to risk its brand, unlike, say Amazon, which couldn’t care less.  This is encouraging news.  We need a win!

Now for current events in the White House daily soap opera, there are reports that former Senator and current Secretary of State, Marc Rubio, and Elon Must, the world’s richest person and US co-president, have made up after an insult fest at a Trump cabinet meeting.  It seems that President Trump had them both to dinner at Mar-a-Lago, so that they would play nicer together.  Musk has also admitted the obvious recently, that he is having trouble paying attention to his businesses because of his job dismantling the government.  Trump, taking pity on him for how badly Tesla is tanking both in the stock market and among consumers, now says to help his buddy out, he’s going to buy a Tesla.

Scientific American reports that Neanderthal DNA “has also been associated with substance use such as drinking and smoking. Other genetic variants seem to increase pain sensitivity and prompt people to consume more pain medications.”

You can’t make this stuff up!