The kind of hassles NYC fleet taxi drivers put up with that can still make Uber X look good.

You can tell from the dispatch receipt that I was clocked in at the garage at 13:34 and I got dispatched at 16:00. That means 2:26 minutes just hanging around. I put the time to good use because the other drivers who got there before I did are kind enough to let me sit on a bench where I have a wall to lean against and a plug to connect my cell phone chager. So I blog, read the news, bullshit with other drivers, doze, etc. No one is paying me, not yet. Oh, I'm rated pretty highly too (Silver, 259 points of a high of 292 and up for a Gold rating). So I guess I don't get the worse treatment. 

So it's four o'clock, I've got the key and the key to my taxi du jour. Now to find the car. I go to the usual spots, and guess what? It's in the last place I'd look- the body shop. It's filthy.

It's filthy alright, and the body workers have had the engine running all day, my taxi is the one that they took their brakes, meals and naps in and they had the engine running and the heat on full blast. I  go to the dispatcher and get his permission to get on the gas line and have the car filled up.

The car is short four gallons but the gas pumps have frozen up.

So I take the car to the car wash, then push and argue my way back onto the gas line. Finally, my gas tank is filled. Three hours and twenty minutes after checking in, 54 minutes after being dispatched.

Ready to  roll. I made $182.00. A lousy night, not caused by Uber.- How do I know? I picked up a passenger who happens to be a stripper.  She only made $23.00. I smell recession in the air.

.

Uber takes out the trash in New York City

Since February, when I came back from a three month visit to my wife's homeland, Venezuela I've been thinking about and writing about Uber and its impact on my life. When I left for Venezuela in November 2014 I had been taxi driving basically 6 nights a week. The garage had so many more drivers than cars that I had to commit to that schedule just to assure that I wouldn't be sent home instead of being assigned a taxi to work with.

Shape up at New York City's taxi garages pre the mass Uber recruiting of taxi drivers was like something out of "On The Waterfront " which helps you to understand Uber's initial successful raid on the taxi fleets. Uber pushed their luck though, I think with the fare cuts and boosts in their take. Along with the lower non-surge fares and no tip option policy Uber attracts less desirable customers. These people are ignorant of Uber's dodgy business practices,  abuses of drivers and fascistic "Mussolini's March On Rome" approach to political and regulatory impediments or worse, they "get it" and they approve. 

Anyhow, the drivers seem to be drifting back to the taxi garages. I noticed some of the Gubers on the Saturday night of the nation wide Uber strike. Drivers outnumbered cars at the garage.

But this past Saturday I had another aha!! moment.  I like to listen to classical music radio WQXR 105.7 fm. For the past few weeks no passengers have crudely demanded that I "put on some tunes. "

Uber has taken out the trash. 

Uber drivers pull off first nationwide strike with no organization almost no money and against expectations.

This weekend Uber drivers threw down the gauntlet.

Travis Kalanick and his backers, venture capitalists hedge fund managers and the world economy wrecking crew at Goldman Sachs are planning their next move.

One guy named Abe Hussein saw that the time was ripe. He pushed and put up his own few thousand dollars to force Uber's exploitation of it's drivers into the world's consciousness. No one expected Uber drivers to respond but the impact was highly visible.

A great first effort !

Heat maps show no Uber cars available.

New York Hilton Hotel. Last week it looked like Uberville.  This weekend it was Taxi Town.

This story is about resistance to an oligarch - fascist leviathan  that smashes down legitimate government and rule of law. Uber, clearly conceived in the mind of a naziphile, is an ideological movement of oligarchs that mobilizes middle class people like its customer base and middle class part time drivers to beat down the living standard of transport workers and ultimately all workers. 

It uses mob mobilization tactics to  intimidate duly elected officials worldwide.  These oligarch - fascists have underestimated their own drivers. 

Uber drivers boast about beating the background check, Uber forced to offer almost adequate insurance coverage in nineteen states.

@EWeixel Also, there's good evidence that Uber's background checks are superior to those of the FBI's. http://t.co/oHeQ0YrRvr.

— Aaron Tao (@AaronTao2) October 13, 2015

Uber's Background Checks Failed To Catch A Murderer And ...

www.forbes.com/.../uber-background-check-lawsuit-convicted-fel...





Forbes

Aug 19, 2015 - Prosecutors in California said Wednesday that Uber's background checks had "systemic failures" and missed the criminal histories of drivers ...

Uber background check civil suit - Business Insider

www.businessinsider.com/uber-background-check-civil-...





Business Insider

Aug 19, 2015 - This driver joined Uber in 2014, and the company's background checkfailed to turn up his criminal record, largely because he gave a fake ...

Uber Driver: Here's How We Get Around Background Checks

valleywag.gawker.com/uber-driver-heres-how-we-get-around...





Valleywag

Jun 27, 2014 - [Uber's] background check is done through a third party called Hirease. It consists of filling out your name, address, DL & SSN online. That's it.

@EWeixel Also, there's good evidence that Uber's background checks are superior to those of the FBI's. http://t.co/oHeQ0YrRvr.

— Aaron Tao (@AaronTao2) October 13, 2015

 http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/

New Laws Push Uber And Lyft To Bump Up Insurance Coverage, But A Collision Gap Remains

Ellen Huet ,

FORBES STAFF

I write about technology and how it affects us.

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Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing service drivers are now covered by the company’s liability insurance at all times when they’re on duty — but could still be saddled with costly collision damages. (Courtesy Sarah, a Lyft driver)

You’re a driver working for Uber or Lyft. You have the app (or both apps) on, but haven’t been matched with a passenger. You’re cruising around and you hit another car. Both cars are damaged. Are you covered?

The answer is both yes and no, though many drivers mistakenly think they are fully covered. A driver’s liability — damage to others — is taken care of, but damage to their own car is not.

In response to new laws going into effect in 19 states Wednesday, Uber and Lyft both recently bumped up their liability insurance coverage to primary — meaning it steps in first, before other policies — for that on-duty-but-unmatched period, a no-man’s-land they had resisted covering for years.

That’s good news, but it still leaves many drivers partially uncovered. That new insurance is only for liability and doesn’t cover collision or other damages to the driver’s car. (Drivers themselves are also not protected if they are hurt in an accident that is their fault, though the companies’ policies cover bodily injury to passengers and others.) And under a new California law, a driver’s personal policy is expressly prohibited from paying for any claims that happen when a driver is logged into a ride-hailing app, so their personal policy won’t cover collision either.

The only way to have collision coverage during that pre-ride period — dubbed Period 1 by lawmakers — is to buy a new, special insurance policy that explicitly allows for work on Uber, Lyft or a similar platform and agrees to cover accidents during personal driving and Period 1.

Insurance companies across the U.S. are starting to offer these poli....

And so, drivers boast on the internet about beating Uber's driver background screening, and only a few months ago , under legal pressure, did Uber and Lyft start offering almost adequate insurance coverage in nineteen of the fifty states of the United States.

Uber and "freedom of choice". In reply to a tweet from a selfish bastard.

 @EWeixel How about respecting freedom of choice and letting consumers pick the ride that they want?

— Aaron Tao (@AaronTao2) October 13, 2015

 Aaron, honestly could you set me straight here? 

Here's freeloader Aaron Tao speaking up for "freedom of choice. " I call Aaron a feeloading conscience - free cheapskate because he understands the issues surrounding Uber and he chooses to take advantage of the situation.  In most jurisdictions Uber completely evades fees associated with the ground transportation business. It encourages insurance fraud. It resists having its drivers drug screened and FBI fingerprinted. Perhaps Aaron, you are fully equipped and capable of defending yourself in the physical sense.

Unfortunately many people who seek what would appear to be publicly regulated ground transportation (but isn't in fact) are not as fortunate as you, Aaron are. How about freedon of fully informed choice? That passengers know that the driver is insured correctly or not? What about free choice for pedestrians and other third parties who might be maimed or even killed by app distracted and effectively uninsured Uber drivers? Where is their free choice, Aaron? Are you advocating that people not willing to brave this possibility stay inside their homes?

And then there is the issue of transportation for wheelchair and walker bound passengers. Uber says that it's an app and not a taxi company, and so no regulator can force it to carry cripples. Fine, Aaron doesn't appear to be a cripple. So if Uber actually wipes out taxi businesses in any given jurisdiction, it's no skin off of Aaron's nose, and we know that the universe is here to serve Aaron.

Uber recruits drivers through immoral and unethical bait - and switch tactics that ought to be illegal if indeed they aren't. Drivers may have signed up to Uber and taken on the responsibility of a high interest auto loan or lease only to see their fares reduced and Uber's take out increased. Tough luck, right Aaron? Problem is, Aaron, that some of these desperadoes are going to continue pushing their un maintained wrecks until someone gets hurt or killed. Tough noogies, right Aaron?

Uberwars NYC October 13 update

The taxi bosses organized a march across the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday, October 12. I didn't go. I couldn't find any mention of it on the Internet.  Did it happen?  I don't know. Here's what I do know: A group of Uber drivers are trying to pull off a nationwide strike this weekend, October 16-18. I also know that there are medallion taxis that will be sitting parked as usual for lack of drivers on those days. I also know that many Uber drivers are licensed taxi drivers.  Couldn't they be incentivized to drive yellow during the strike?

Some of them are renting Uber cars by the week.  What's to lose for the fleet owners?

Maybe it's too late to get it together for this strike? Something is telling me that we're not looking at the one and only Nationwide Uber Strike, but rather the first. Maybe the notion of this proposal will sink in and become real the next time, and there is going to be a next time.

PS- It's a good time to let your drivers know about the free Sherpa Share heat map.  It directs drivers for Uber to the zones where Uber is likely to be charging passengers surge prices.  This is a war, right?

#Uber wars New York City Third Update Thursday, October 8, 2015

One thing you can count on is that Travis Kalanick, boss of Uber, doesn't cancel or postpone his war against taxis, buses, the automobile industry and just about anyone who works for a living. So the New York taxi driver march is set for last week got canceled, but then reset.That's good. Truly I don't think it will change things much.

The new taxi app called Arro has been on the road for a few weeks. Honestly I don't think it's going to change much either. It's set up better for safety than Uber and than the old dead app called Hailo that completely failed. I knew it would fail.Taxi apps like Hailo create danger to the public Arro is not nearly as bad, but I just don't think apps and New York Yellows mix.

Still we should be fighting Uber / Goldman Sachs

UBER DRIVERS ARE ORGANIZING A STRIKE FOR OCTOBER 16 TO 1

That is good for yellow taxi drivers and green too. Even if only a small number of Uber X drivers strike it will mean a little less competition on those days. And if they make any progress in forcing Uber to give them more money it will be good for everyone who drives for a living.

There is a free app that shows us where Uber will probably charge extra for its rides. The public hates it when Uber raises its fares and Uber drivers need these raises, because the ordinary fare after all the expenses leaves them with not much to put aside to take care of their cars and replace them when they are all worn out. 

Sherpa Share Heat Map

We can use this map. It tells us where there is probably more business. It's free from Google Play and i Store and it's easy to use the map.

Trump and Kalanick, and abstentionist "revolutionaries" too Fascism US 21st Century style

Ted Rall: Uber Is A Fascist Movement. Literally.

2 months ago

by Ted Rall

8 Comments

Written by Ted Rall

Why is everybody so divided and so freaked out about Uber that they are rioting over it? Why are presidential candidates taking a stand on it. Because Uber is fascist. Let Ted Rall walk you through the many parallels between Uber and various right wing totalitarian movements of the 20th century.

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aNewDomain — Uber is an app. For a private taxi service. Why is the media so obsessed with it?

Why are public figures, including top contenders for the presidency, compelled to take a stand about it?

Why are people all over the world so divided and so freaked out about it that they are actually rioting?

Because Uber is fascist.

Seriously, let’s walk through the parallels between the Silicon Valley startup and the genocidal right-wing totalitarian movements of the mid 20th century.

At right: The interior design of Uber’s office in San Francisco updates Albert Speer for the new millennium.

Fascist aesthetics

The vast majority of tech startups, including those whose activities are sinister as well as fellow members of the so-called “sharing economy,” are warm, fuzzy and downright cute. Uber stands apart for its adoption of a Teutonic coldness that even corporations find too austere. You don’t find such environments outside of dystopian films, the vampire hotels in the TV series “Trueblood,” and goth bars, if those still exist.

If Voldemort founded a taxi company, its logo would look something like Uber’s.

The name

When you think “Uber,” what do you think of? Awesome?

If you are of a certain age, or like to watch World War II movies, there’s no way to avoid the association with “Deutschland Uber Alles,” the German national anthem.

Also worth mentioning: “California Uber Alles,” the 1979 song in which the Dead Kennedys suggested that then-Gov. Jerry Brown marked the rise of “zen fascists” under the guise of easygoing hippies.

Don’t tell me that Uber CEO Travis Kalanick didn’t focus-group the shit out of the name.

(For whatever it’s worth, Kalanick’s family is supposedly Czech and, ahem, Austrian.)

Ruthless efficiency

The trains ran on time in Germany under Hitler and in Italy under Mussolini. Any Uber user will tell you that one of the things that they love about the service is its remarkable on-time performance.

Crushing the individual

Yellow-cab drivers and Uber drivers alike complain that Uber is decimating their incomes and treating them “like slaves.” Slave labor: No one did it better than the fascists.

The cult of The Leader

Many tech CEOs are egotists. But Kalanick takes it to the next level, saying that the taxi business required “a fearless leader” — him — to disrupt it. As Vanity Fair put it, he’s always “spoiling for a fight.”

Typical quote: “You can either do what they say or you can fight for what you believe!” Remind you of a certain corporal?

Constant expansion

For Uber, it’s 1939 in Nazi years. Founded in 2009, the company has, much like Chancellor Hitler, gone from nothing to the verge of world domination. That’s in six years. Fascism and Nazism viewed themselves not just as mere ideologies, but as dynamic movements that had to be constantly conquering new territory.

Uber’s goals are no less ambitious.

“Today we are one step closer to our vision of UberEverywhere — a bold idea that no matter where you are, a reliable ride with Uber is just five minutes away,” the company announced last year. Lyft, its main rival, has only a fraction of the cities in which Uber is active.

Thuggery

During their drive to power and well into the early years of their regime, the Nazis claimed to adhere to the outlines of legality, while constantly skirting the spirit of the law and trying to get away with, literally, murder. Given the choice between negotiating with traditional authorities or treating them like rivals, they often resorted to thuggish, bullying tactics.

Numerous municipalities around the world say that Uber ignores laws with a view toward destroying the traditional taxi business and Lyft. In the end Uber wants to be the only one left — “too big to ban,” as Wired put it.

Uber has even flirted with hiring detectives to dig up dirt on journalists who write negative stories about them.

Just remember: When you ride with Uber, you’re riding with Hitler.

For aNewDomain and SkewedNews, I’m Ted Rall.

Cover image: OneTenOpera.com, All Rights Reserved. 

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Who Said: "When Fascism comes to America, it will come wrapped in the flag and waving a cross”?

MARCH 3, 2010 / KLINT FINLEY / 14 COMMENTS

You’ve probably heard some variation on this quote: “When fascism comes to America, it will come wrapped in the flag and waving a cross,” possibly attributed to Sinclair Lewis or Huey Long. The only problem: there’s no evidence that either men said it.

But Sally Parry of the Sinclair Lewis Society provides us with two similar passages written by Lewis:

From It Can’t Happen Here (1935): “But he saw too that in America the struggle was befogged by the fact that the worst Fascists were they who disowned the word ‘Fascism’ and preached enslavement to Capitalism under the style of Constitutional and Traditional Native American Liberty.”

From Gideon Planish (1943): “I just wish people wouldn’t quote Lincoln or the Bible, or hang out the flag or the cross, to cover up something that belongs more to the bank-book and the three golden balls.”

Also, the author behind the site What Shii Knows has done some research and found two other possible sources:

“It is a peculiarity of the development of American fascism that at the present stage it comes forward principally in the guise of an opposition to fascism, which it accuses of being an “un-American” trend imported from abroad.” – Georgi Dimitrov, in his report delivered at the Seventh World Congress of the Communist International in 1935.

“When and if fascism comes to America it will not be labeled ‘made in Germany'; it will not be marked with a swastika; it will not even be called fascism; it will be called, of course, ‘Americanism'” – An uncredited New York Times reporter covering Halford E. Luccock in an article published September 12, 1938.

AN AESOP FABLE

From What Next? Vital Question for the German Proletariat, 1932

* * *

A cattle dealer once drove some bulls to the slaughterhouse. And the butcher came night with his sharp knife.

"Let us close ranks and jack up this executioner on our horns," suggested one of the bulls. 

"If you please, in what way is the butcher any worse than the dealer who drove us hither with his cudgel?" replied the bulls, who had received their political education in Manuilsky's institute. [The Comintern.]

"But we shall be able to attend to the dealer as well afterwards!"

"Nothing doing," replied the bulls firm in their principles, to the counselor. "You are trying, from the left, to shield our enemies -- you are a social-butcher yourself."

And they refused to close ranks.

Fascism's Rise to Power

www.marxist.com/oldsite/.../chapter7.htm...

International Marxist Tendency

Even Hitler later confessed: 'Only one thing could have broken our movement - if .... of fascism, they rejected it out of hand with the phrase 'After Hitler, our turn!'.