As our nation celebrates Labor Day, Kaiser healthcare workers in California are celebrating an action by the Obama Administration's National Labor Relations Board that protects our rights and gives new momentum to our movement to get our union back under members' control.

On August 27, the Board's General Counsel took legal action (Case #21-CA-39296) to protect Kaiser RNs and professionals who have joined NUHW and are entitled to all of their previously scheduled raises, tuition reimbursements, and other benefits of our union contract.

This is great news, not just to the 2,300 NUHW members at Kaiser, but for the 43,500 of us who will vote to become members of NUHW starting Sept. 13.

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My life was changed this month and I hope that by sharing my experience, it may save yours. I turned 50 in June and decided with the producers of "The Dr. Oz Show" to get a colonoscopy to demonstrate to the audience what is recommended and what they could expect. To be perfectly candid, if I didn't have a show to do, I probably would have put it off months, perhaps years. I had no risk factors - no obesity, a nearly perfect diet, no tobacco or alcohol consumption and no family history. I knew the odds as they related to my circumstances and worried about colon cancer about as much as being struck by lightning on a sunny day. But I had signed up for the role of teacher in hosting my show and, out of deference to demonstration, found myself at home drinking a solution to clear my bowels in front of a field production crew the evening before the colonoscopy.

Thinking back now, those were some of my most arrogant moments. I didn't see myself as a patient. I saw the whole process as a twisted form of cinema verite while delivering the ultimate lecture. In fact, part of me just wanted to get it over with and move on to "more important things" like my daughter Daphne's upcoming wedding at that time, just two weeks away. I had a routine to keep. A 24-hour bowel cleansing and sedation was disruptive. There can be no greater oblivion in a person's life than when self importance clouds your sense of mortality.

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There are certain American towns that capture the essence of simple pleasures on the water and a slower summertime pace. My favorites all have shingled cottages cheered up with bright paint colors or potted plants and gingerbread trim. Mixed in with the tourist shops selling t-shirts and flip-flops may be a surprisingly good antiques store, attractive clothing boutiques or a special art gallery. There is definitely an excellent ice cream or candy shop as well as at least one memorable hotel and some very good restaurants. And, perhaps, most importantly, there are annual visitors who flock to these places to cherish the laid-back atmosphere and a sense of a return to the summers of our childhood.

The most recent of these iconic American coastal towns that I have visited is St. Michael's, Maryland, where I stayed at the Inn at Perry Cabin. (It appeared as the waterfront estate in Wedding Crashers.) From the rooms are views of sailboats on the bay and herons cruising over the marshes. Bicycles can be borrowed for a ride into town or sailboats arranged for a day on the water with a picnic of sandwiches or lobster rolls on fresh-baked bread from the hotel bakery. Nearby attractions include the quaint town of Easton (be sure to eat at Mason's, an exceptional restaurant in a converted two-story with an adjacent garden and chocolate shop) and Annapolis, only a forty-minute trip, best taken by boat. A five-minute walk from the Inn is the Maritime Museum (213 N. Talbot Street; 410-745-2916), an eighteen-acre campus of sea-related buildings where you can learn about oystering (the Eastern Shore is the world's biggest source), waterfowling, crabbing and the history of sailing.

American summer vacation may unofficially end with Labor Day but at any of these towns in late September and even into October, you can still savor sea breezes and warm days and probably the prettiest cloud-streaked skies of the year. Among them are Key West, Florida; Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket town, Massachusetts; Laguna Beach, California and St. Michael's, Maryland.

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There's talk these days of the New Normal, but it sounds like a cover for the Old Status Quo. Proponents of this want us to believe it all boils down to what we can afford. Champions of the New Possible know it's more about what we value.
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On days like this I very much regret not having an Internet connection to share so much happiness with the commentators on the blog. Clacking keyboards, drinking toasts screen to screen, and thanking all of you who have supported me with your words of encouragement, your critiques and your suggestions.

Three years ago that shy woman -- who I once was -- opened this virtual space to narrate her reality, with more fears than certainties. I remember the incredulity of the readers at first, the doubts of some, the State Security or CIA card others assigned me, the slip ups on the arduous journey of opinion. From 2007 until now I feel I have lived six or seven lives at once, full of achievements but also marked by constant coercion from a repressive apparatus that never sleeps.

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How nice of AMC to run one of the better episodes of Mad Men on Labor Day weekend. (That's a little joke.) Fortunately, it's not one of the more mysterious ones. As always, there be spoilers ahead.

The episode is about people taking potential knock-out blows, and how they react. Not all of them bounce back up. And so it's not hard to figure out, it's organized around a famous fight, the May 25th, 1965 re-match of Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston for the world heavyweight boxing championship.

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As if my inspiration from MTV's The City last week wasn't highbrow enough, this post was inspired by the one and only well-oiled, tanning bed, hair gel-fueled Jersey Shore. I wonder how that gelato shop got stuck with the Jersey Shore cast. Nothing about that can be sanitary. Nothing.

On last week's episode, a beautifully-crafted, anonymous letter was created by Snooki and JWoww for Sammi, alerting her about her boyfriend's misbehavior. I love nothing more than watching orange reality show stars writing. That might have been my all-time Jersey Shore highlight. However, getting involved in someone else's relationship, when it comes to cheating, is a tough call.

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Unbeaten, six-time champion Floyd Mayweather has apologized for his racially-charged video rant aimed at Filipino star and seven-time titlist Manny Pacquiao, using the same Ustream webcam format to do so on Friday, according to a report from Mark Vester at BoxingScene.com.

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When Elizabeth Gilbert set off on her now-famous journey to eat, pray and love, she started in Italy. But these days, the hottest destination for the traveling gourmet is the Basque Country. The region's restaurants range from renowned establishments known for cutting-edge techniques, like that of Martin Berasategui, to traditional pinxtos bars, where locals debate politics while they dine on stacks of mini-tapas. The center of the culinary scene is San Sebastian, a picturesque Belle Époque resort town that boasts a higher density of Michelin stars than Paris. Perhaps the most famous structure in the Basque Country remains Bilbao's glamorous Guggenheim museum. But the region's eateries, hidden in unassuming farmhouses and narrow bars on cobblestone streets, take a close second place.

Read our Cheat Sheet on the best of Basque Country

Read a Q&A with Elizabeth Gilbert on her favorite spots on Bali

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For those with a good memory this is the promised follow up to my piece on the manipulation of the silver market and its very scary ramifications. Before we get into the possible end of civilization as we know it details, a recap is in order. Andrew Maguire of London blew the whistle on JP Morgan Chase's very likely profound manipulation of the silver market to the CFTC. As financial government watchdog agencies are wont to do these days, they did their best to sweep it all under the carpet. How the SEC handled Bernie Madoff's ponzi scheme is a prime example of this. This matter is not a ponzi scheme but it is a the largest scam ever going into the trillions of dollars territory. But back to Maguire who was quite determined to clean up the business of commodities trading. He goes public with powerful compelling evidence of JP Morgan Chase's manipulation of the silver market. This happens on a Kingsworld radio show. The next day someone tries to kill him by ramming a car into Maguire's car. Maguire and his wife who was also in the car are hurt pretty bad but survive. After this in their infinite wisdom the commodities watchdog the CFTC decides to have a meeting with most of the key players in commodities trading but exclude Maguire from attending. At this meeting a secret is revealed that could easily tear apart the fabric of our barely functional financial system. The secret is that for every 100 ounces of gold and for every 100 ounces of silver traded on paper there is only one actual ounce of gold and one actual once of silver to back up these trades. Given that yearly there is trillions of gold and silver traded on paper this is the literally biggest scam in the history of scams. Now the guy who let this cat out of the bag didn't think it was a big deal using the logic that as long as the buyer was paid the value of his purchase at the time he wants to sell it doesn't matter if his purchase was backed up by an actual commodity. This cavalier attitude does seem to reflect the mind set of people working in our financial system that everything is smoke and mirrors except the money being exchanged.

It is quite possible and even probable that someone with enough financial resources and the will to do it could turn our financial system upside down and make an enormous profit from it. This person would have to have no loyalty to western currency and the financial well being of western countries. So let's assume a very wealthy Asian wants to take a shot at getting into Bill Gates's wealth status. From what I gather the game plan would be a simple one. That is buy enormous amounts of what I like to call the paper version of silver and gold and buy even more actual silver and gold. Then start a run on Comex by demanding to replace your paper with actual gold and silver. The next part is for me admittedly a bit fuzzy so my play by play of this could be off a bit but I believe the general idea fits the situation. Given that commodities' trading is a relatively small community, if the player of this scenario has purchased enough of these metals and starts demanding their paper be replaced with the real thing, their demands should cut fairly deep into Comex reserves and then the rumor mill will kick in big time. It shouldn't take long for the word to get out that there is more paper of gold and silver out than actual gold and silver exists to back it up. Once this gets on the street it should not take long for the Comex reserves to get wiped out. Then financial chaos is right around the corner. However as chaos swirls around them those that possess actual silver and gold will see their investment shoot up perhaps skyrocket in value. I believe a conservative estimate would be to rise anywhere from 2 to 4 times in value. However given the volatility of anything financial these days I fully expect it to zoom to 5 to 10 times in value.

That's the good news if you are sitting on actual gold and silver but the bad news is really really really bad because the basis for all valuation including the stock market, the dollar the euro etc. etc. is gold and silver. Remove silver and gold from the valuation process and as one financial analyst recently told me the stock market probably drops to 25 percent of its value the dollar probably loses 30 percent of its value and so on. These figures are guesswork and possibly conservative but what is not a guess is that the value of stocks, the dollar, the euro and more will lose big chunks of their value enough to throw our fragile financial system into chaos. The value of silver and gold are bedrocks for building the valuation of currencies the stock market and other financial entities. Remove a bedrock and the house comes tumbling down or at least a good part of it probably most of it.

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Kenny Trevino and Tiffanie Perry were found dead in Austin Sunday night in what police suspect may be a murder-suicide, according to KXAN. The web site reports that a relative said Trevino, a 26-year-old MMA fighter, was "despondent" after breaking up with Perry, a 23-year-old model.

According to News8Austin, "Officers said both bodies suffered trauma," but no cause of death has been publicly released.

A ModelMayhem profile that appears to belong to Perry says that she models "because I love to model. This is not how I plan to make a living nor is it how I pay the bills."

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George Bush and Dick Cheney knowingly lied the United States into war. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair did the same to the United Kingdom.

Tony Blair is donating all the proceeds from the sale of his book, "The Journey", to wounded British veterans. That will not repay them for his lies, or restore their limbs, but it will provide some help for their lives.

The Bush/Cheney crowd rarely visited wounded veterans. They refused to allow photos of killed veterans' caskets. In both cases they feared that exposing the human costs of the war would cause public support to wane, in essence a lie by omission.

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American students' lack of knowledge about the world is unsettling. While debate over the building of the Islamic Cultural Center has made headlines, the majority of college-bound seniors cannot find Iraq or Israel on a map.
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Actress Michelle Williams hit the Venice Film Festival over Labor Day weekend, sporting a short platinum bob and two classically demure dresses. Which did she wear best?

Look #1 on Sunday at the "Meek's Cutoff" premiere:

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ST. LOUIS — A season that is slipping away for the St. Louis Cardinals has turned personal, with star slugger Albert Pujols criticizing young outfielder Colby Rasmus.

Rasmus has admitted he wasn't always happy while playing for the Cardinals as a rookie last year and this season. The 24-year-old center fielder is denying reports, however, that he asked in July to be traded.

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In its September 13, 2010 issue, Time magazine asks the wrong question. The question isn't why Israel doesn't care about peace. The question is why the Arab world refuses to make peace with Israel.

Israel's entire history is an unending willingness to trade land for the hope of peace that has been repeatedly dashed by Arab intransigence.

When the United Nations recognized Israel's independence, all of the West Bank and Jerusalem were outside Israel's borders. Despite the historic, legal, and moral claims of the Jewish people to Jerusalem and to Judea and Samaria, Israel was willing to forgo the land in exchange for independence and peace. But the Arab world could not countenance a Jewish state in its midst, and several Arab armies attacked Israel. When the fighting stopped in 1949, Israel controlled half of Jerusalem (the half without the holy places) and none of the West Bank. Jordan proceeded to raze dozens of synagogues in the half of Jerusalem it controlled, with no international protests.

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Today we celebrate Labor Day but we don't celebrate labor. We're quickly dividing the country into rich and poor and shrinking the middle class. It's a formula for national disaster.

It used to be that a basic American value was a fair day's wages for a fair day's work. Over time this standard has been eroded. When I was growing up an individual with a high school degree could support a family, today it typically takes two adults to support a family and even then a missed paycheck or lost hours can lead to economic ruin.

In 2009 the typical household income was $50,303. That may sound like a lot but it's actually less than the $51,296 earned by a typical household in 1999, a decade earlier. Meanwhile, as household incomes have fallen, what's happened to the cost of medical care? College? Cars?

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BOGOTA, Colombia — Edward Nino Hernandez is in many ways a typical 24-year-old Colombian male. He loves to dance reggaeton, dreams of owning a car – preferably a Mercedes_ and wants to see the world.

Top on his list of people he would like to meet are Jackie Chan, Sylvester Stallone and former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

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This Labor Day, we must consider how a new generation of unions can become relevant in a transformed economy.

Every Labor Day, we hear about the landmark achievements of working people and their unions. Advocates of the past successfully worked to prohibit child labor and to create the 40-hour workweek. They closed sweatshops and ended systems of industrial homework, in which factory employees were made to do labor-intensive tasks for businesses late at night and in their own homes.

These achievements were indeed historic. At the same time, one wonders if these hard-fought rights are still meaningful for American workers today. In our global economy, many of us bring our work home with us, few enjoy an eight-hour workday, and everyone is forced to compete with sweatshops and child labor in far corners of the world.

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Jessica Simpson is enjoying Labor Day weekend with her boyfriend of a few months, Eric Johnson.

"I met a wonderful man. Damn I'm lucky!" she tweeted on Sunday just before tweeting the photo below.

At one point Eric had planned to leave LA for Wharton Business School this fall, but he decided not to go and Jessica supports his choice.

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