On this day in 1898, the Battle of Virden began when armed members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) surrounded a train full of strikebreakers and exchanged fire with company guards. 13 people were killed, dozens more wounded.
After a local chapter of the UMW began striking at a mine in Virden, Illinois, the Chicago-Virden Coal Company hired black strikebreakers from Birmingham, Alabama and shipped them to Virden by train.
The company hired armed detectives or security guards to accompany the strikebreakers, and an armed conflict broke out when armed miners surrounded the train as it arrived in town. A total of four detectives and seven striking mine workers were killed, with five guards, thirty miners, and an unrecorded number of strikebreakers wounded.
After this incident, Illinois Governor John Tanner ordered the National Guard to prevent any more strikebreakers from coming into the state by force. The next month, the Chicago-Virden Coal Company relented and allowed the unionization of its workers.
"When the last call comes for me to take my ο¬nal rest, will the miners see that I get a resting place in the same clay that shelters the miners who gave up their lives on the hills of Virden, Illinois...They are responsible for Illinois being the best organized labor state in America."
Mother Jones
Megathreads and spaces to hang out:
- π Come listen to music and Watch movies with your fellow Hexbears nerd, in Cy.tube
- π₯ Read and talk about a current topics in the News Megathread
- β Come talk in the New Weekly PoC thread
- β¨ Talk with fellow Trans comrades in the New Weekly Trans thread
- π Share your gains and goals with your comrades in the New Weekly Improvement thread
reminders:
- π You nerds can join specific comms to see posts about all sorts of topics
- π Hexbearβs algorithm prioritizes comments over upbears
- π Sorting by new you nerd
- π If you ever want to make your own megathread, you can reserve a spot here nerd
- πΆ Join the unofficial Hexbear-adjacent Mastodon instance toots.matapacos.dog
Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):
Aid:
Theory:
- β€οΈFoundations of Leninism
- β€οΈAnarchism and Other Essays
Carly Simon if she were a Star Wars nerd:
You're Darth Bane
You'll probably keep the Sith down to about two
I despise the "Rule of Two". That's not an order or even a philosphy, that's just a super-villain with a henchman.
Back when Vader was the Dark Lord of the Sith, back when I was a kid, I thought that was a title he held, and that the Sith were evil force users roughly equivalent to the good Jedi. Back in the day there were lots of dark Jedi and evil force users running around and the monolithic paradigm where there were only Jedi and Sith wasn't established. Idk what is even going on now but it seems they're breaking up that paradigm by brining the Night Sisters more in to focus as a non-Sith force tradition (of Evvvvvil except when theyr'e trying to do liberal centrist "Grey Jedi" bullshit where you can use magic to hurt people for personal gain without incurring permanent costs).
I like it cause it's really really really stupid. Anything aside from the first movie and Andor and I guess Empire, i mostly just find really funny and I am more interested in the really dumb shit nerds take seriously than anything about star wars that isn't Andor. I'm hyped to find out that the last time Sebulba was seen was at 10:30 am on a Saturday and he was signing autographs.
The Rule of Two is being trope-aware about the conservation of ninjutsu