Do you own a Boxee Box and have an account with a little streaming music service called MOG ? Well, soon enough you’ll be able to pick and choose from the company’s 11.5 million song strong library right on your TV. That’s 320kbps audio and album art in 1080p that you can peruse using your double-sided Boxee remote and a welcome expansion of the media box’s music repertoire — which currently includes Last.FM and Pandora . You can try MOG for 14-days for free, but after that you’ll have to sign up for either a $4.99-a-month basic account or a $9.99-per-month Primo account if you want to keep enjoying its streaming audio selection. Check out the PR after the break. Continue reading MOG brings its music streaming magic to Boxee MOG brings its music streaming magic to Boxee originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 20:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Democrats and Workers Come Out in Support of New NLRB Union Election Rules
August 29, 2011 No CommentFour Democratic members of Congress came out in support of proposed changes being reviewed by the National Labor Relations Board that would update the process through which union formation elections are held. The four were Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) and Robert Andrews (D-NJ) , who expressed their support in a letter sent to the NLRB this week. In the letter, the Democrats say that current procedures are outdated and cause unnecessary delays that allow for employers to harass and workers who are exercising their rights. They said that the changes would ensure the rights of both workers and employers and lower litigations costs for all involved. Specifically, the new rules would : -Allow for electronic filing of election petitions and other documents. -Ensure that employees, employers and unions receive and exchange timely information they need to understand and participate in the representation case process. -Standardize timeframes for parties to resolve or litigate issues before and after elections. -Require parties to identify issues and describe evidence soon after an election petition is filed to facilitate resolution and eliminate unnecessary litigation. -Defer litigation of most voter eligibility issues until after the election. -Require employers to provide a final voter list in electronic form soon after the scheduling of an election, including voters’ telephone numbers and email addresses when available. -Consolidate all election-related appeals to the Board into a single post-election appeals process and thereby eliminate delay in holding elections currently attributable to the possibility of pre-election appeals. -Make Board review of post-election decisions discretionary rather than mandatory. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says he supports the new rules but argues that they don’t go far enough in protecting workers: The proposed rule does not address many of the fundamental problems with our labor laws, but it will help bring critically needed fairness and balance to this part of the process. … When workers want to vote on a union, they should get a fair chance to vote. That’s a basic right. But our current system has become a broken, bureaucratic maze that stalls and stymies workers’ choices. And that diminishes the voice of working people, creates imbalance in our economy and shrinks the middle class. Business leaders have, not surprisingly, criticized the new rules, engaging in significant misinformation about the new rules. The AFL-CIO’s Josh Goldstein clarifies that the changes cut back on delays during the process, cut back on unnecessary litigation, and standardizes procedures. Also, he notes, the new rules do not do what critics say: The rule does NOT deny companies the opportunity to express their opinion about union representation. From the first day workers are hired, companies have full access and ample opportunity to make their views clear to workers. In fact, nearly half of charges of illegal conduct filed with the NLRB during organizing campaigns involve employer misconduct that took place before workers filed a petition. The rule does NOT require that elections be held within a specific time period. It simply makes the process fair by removing opportunities to delay the vote. Delay is a tactic used to wear down and discourage employees who want to form a union. Employers and workers alike are entitled to a process that cannot be manipulated to gain unfair advantage and is clear, precise and efficient. This rule does NOT hurt our economy or stifle business. On the contrary, a fair, efficient and predictable process saves time and resources for companies, workers and the government. And if workers decide to choose a union, the economy benefits. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) estimates that if 5 million service workers were to join unions, approximately $34 billion in new wages would flow into the economy. Furthermore, unions help build successful partnerships between workers and corporations every day. At companies like AT&T and UPS, workers have formed partnerships with their employers to improve their lives, and these businesses continue to lead their industries. The AFL-CIO also submitted 21,000 comments to the NLRB this week, showing overwhelming support from workers for the new rules. Since the National Labor Relations Act was passed in 1935, the rules for forming unions have been changed more than three dozen times, so these changes are consistent with the history of the law.
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enlarge Credit: quantcast Fox News is all about preemptive strikes. They were cheerleaders for it in Iraq. They still are…unless Obama does it. Then it would be anti-American, socialist and an affront to all things good and decent. Anyway, if I’ve learned anything covering the media it’s that the tactics Fox celebrates in their fellow right-wingers in power are the same tactics their notorious PR department engages in. Yes, they adore bullies and employ them to do publicity. So Gawker is now passe according to Fox. They’re claiming their traffic is WAY down and Gawker is on par with Chatroulette and MySpace (owned by Murdoch by the way). Why? Why is Gawker in the crosshairs of Fox & Cronies ? “It’s wall to wall snark,” says Larry O’Connor editor of Breitbart.com (see a traffic comparison in the graph). Yes, that’s why people don’t go to the Internet anymore…all the trash talk. It’s like that Yogi Berra quote, “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.” Gawker ‘s John Cook has a better idea : I have for several weeks been working on a story about a Fox News personality that Fox News really does not want published! Fox knows what the story is, because I’ve asked its PR department for comment (they refused). Tune in next week to see what the story is. He also documents the barrage of ” Gawker sucks” comments on FNC and their website . Cook offers this foreshadowing: And if past is prologue, get ready to see Gawker on Fox News a lot. H/T FishbowlLA
Continue reading …Nat Geo Infomercial: ‘Why Didn’t We Know This?’ Wonders George Bush After 9/11
August 29, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media In an interview that aired Sunday night, President Bush told National Geographic Channel’s Peter Schnall that after 9/11, he didn’t want to blame intelligence agencies for failing to predict the attacks. “At some point in time in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, I thought about why didn’t we know this?” Bush recalled. “I knew we needed to figure out what went wrong to prevent other attacks but I didn’t want to start the finger pointing and say to our intelligence communities, ‘You fouled up. You should have caught this. Why didn’t you know?’” On Aug. 6, 2001 — more than a month before the attacks — Bush received a presidential daily briefing entitled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.” “Clandestine, foreign government, and media reports indicate bin Laden since 1997 has wanted to conduct terrorist attacks in the US,” the briefing said. “Bin Laden implied in U.S. television interviews in 1997 and 1998 that his followers would follow the example of World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef and ‘bring the fighting to America.’” “FBI information since that time indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York.” The day after receiving the report while vacationing on his ranch, “Bush seemed carefree as he spoke about the books he was reading, the work he was doing on his nearby ranch, his love of hot-weather jogging, his golf game and his 55th birthday,” according to The Washington Post . UPDATE: John Amato : Heather posted about Rupert Murdoch’s infomercial for George Bush yesterday, but I didn’t think there would be much news coming out of it. Guess I was mistaken. Who can forget Ben-Veniste’s questioning of Condi Rice during the 9/11 Commission over the Bin Laden PDB? RICE: I remember very well that the president was aware that there were issues inside the United States. He talked to people about this. But I don’t remember the al Qaeda cells as being something that we were told we needed to do something about. BEN-VENISTE: Isn’t it a fact, Dr. Rice, that the August 6 PDB warned against possible attacks in this country? And I ask you whether you recall the title of that PDB? RICE: I believe the title was, “Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States.” Now, the… BEN-VENISTE: Thank you. And in September of 2007, Bill Moyers covered this PDB quite thoroughly: BILL MOYERS: The system was blinking red but the 9/11 Commission report says the American people were not warned. Where were the President’s national security advisers? — RICE: No, Mr. Ben-Veniste, you… BEN-VENISTE: I will get into the… RICE: I would like to finish my point here. BEN-VENISTE: I didn’t know there was a point. RICE: Given that you asked me whether or not it warned of attacks… BEN-VENISTE: I asked you what the title was. RICE: What the August 6th PDB said, and perhaps I should read it to you… BEN-VENISTE: We would be happy to have it declassified in full at this time, including its title. MOYERS: Two days after Rice’s testimony and after the Commission’s most heated showdown with the Bush Administration over access to classified information — the PDB, heavily blacked out — is released on the Saturday night before Easter. The President had been informed that, quote: “Bin Laden told followers he wanted to retaliate in Washington.” The President had been informed that FBI information, quote, “indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York.” And the President had been informed of reports that a group of bin Laden supporters are, quote, “in the U.S. planning attacks.” But the President stays at his Texas ranch for 23 more days. His National Security Adviser does not convene a Cabinet-level meeting to discuss the urgent warnings. ROEMER: Not once do the principals ever sit down. You, in your job description as the national security adviser, the secretary of State, the secretary of Defense, the President of the United States and meet solely on terrorism to discuss, in the spring and the summer, when these threats are coming in; when you’ve known since the transition that al Qaeda cells are in the United States; when, as the PDB said on August 6th, “Bin Laden Determined to Attack the United States.” RICE: The PDB does not say the United States is going to be attacked. It says bin Laden would like to attack the United States. I don’t think you, frankly, had to have that report to know that bin Laden would like to attack the United States. The threat reporting… the threat reporting… ROEMER: So why aren’t you doing something about that earlier than August 6th, then? MOYERS: The Commission never gets a satisfactory answer to that question.
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Washington weighs up backing huge Daimer Bhasha project as a means of improving battered relations with Pakistan The US is considering financial support for a $12bn dam in Pakistan in an attempt to improve its battered image in the country. The Daimer Bhasha dam would provide enough electricity to end Pakistan’s crippling shortages. It is said its reservoir would hold so much water it could have averted last year’s devastating floods. Washington has not yet made a final decision on partial funding of the dam, but US money would be crucial in securing other international finance, especially from the Asian Development Bank. “Getting involved in a long-term project like this is very compelling for us,” said a senior US official. “This is the project we’re spending our time assessing. “This would demonstrate that Pakistan is the kind of country where you can do large, complex infrastructure projects. It’s not all flood relief and sacks of flour.” At the end of last week, President Asif Ali Zardari met a team from the Asian Development Bank “to start the process of financing Daimer Bhasha dam as the project has been approved at all internal fora of the country”, according to a statement from his office. Although Washington is Pakistan’s biggest international donor by far, the support has done little to improve perceptions of the US, which is seen as the enemy by many Pakistanis – a view exacerbated by continuing drone attacks in tribal areas and the killing of Osama bin Laden earlier this year. The dam, which harks back to similar projects supported by Washington in the 1960s and 1970s, could help reset relations between the two countries. India is likely to object to US support for the dam, as it is located in the disputed Kashmir region. Opposition may also come from critics in the US Congress, who have called for all aid to be cut off after Bin Laden was found hiding in Pakistan. The dam, on the Indus river, would provide 4,500MW of cheap, green energy, making up for a shortfall causing up to 12 hours of power cuts a day across Pakistan. The reservoir would be 50 miles long. Shakil Durrani, chairman of the water and power development authority, said Islamabad had approved the dam project and he was confident of US backing. “If we had a reservoir the size of Daimer Bhasha the floods last summer would not have occurred,” he said. “This would be the largest project ever undertaken in Pakistan. It is our top priority.” Analyst Mosharraf Zaidi agreed the
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Two weeks ago, when billionaire Warren Buffett called for higher taxes on rich people like him, the liberal media predictably gushed and fawned. Yet when Americans for Better Government revealed last week that Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway has been in an almost decade-long dispute with the IRS over how much taxes it owes, these same press members couldn't care less: According to Berkshire Hathaway’s own annual report — see Note 15 on pp. 54-56 — the company has been in a years-long dispute over its federal tax bills. According to the report, “We anticipate that we will resolve all adjustments proposed by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (‘IRS’) for the 2002 through 2004 tax years at the IRS Appeals Division within the next 12 months. The IRS has completed its examination of our consolidated U.S. federal income tax returns for the 2005 and 2006 tax years and the proposed adjustments are currently being reviewed by the IRS Appeals Division process. The IRS is currently auditing our consolidated U.S. federal income tax returns for the 2007 through 2009 tax years.” Americans for Limited Government researcher Richard McCarty, who was alerted to the controversy by a federal government lawyer, said, “The company has been short-changing the tax collection agency for much of the past decade.
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The number of prosecutions under Thai lèse-majesté laws has soared as the new government promises a clampdown The new Thai government has vowed to crack down on websites deemed insulting to the royal family, alarming campaigners who had hoped it might curb a recent surge in the use of lèse-majesté laws. Cases involving the offence – which carries a sentence of up to 15 years in jail – have soared in the last five years. Thailand also blocked or suspended almost 75,000 sites between 2007 and 2010, mostly under the Computer Crimes Act in relation to lèse-majesté. Campaigners hoped the new government would ease restrictions, particularly given the complaints filed against several leaders of the “red shirt” movement whose support brought Puea Thai to power. But following pressure from the ousted Democrats, deputy prime minister Chalerm Yubamrung pledged to set up a “war room” to deal with the issue online, the Bangkok Post reported . “Websites [guilty of lèse-majesté] will not be tolerated by this government. I will take action as quickly as possible,” he said. The issue’s increasing sensitivity comes amid the ill health of the revered 83-year-old king and the bitter political conflict between Thai elites, such as the powerful military, and supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted as prime minister in a 2006 coup. His sister, Yingluck, now leads the country and Puea Thai is seen as his party. David Streckfuss, the leading expert on the issue and author of Truth on Trial in Thailand, said 30 lèse-majesté charges were sent to the lower courts in 2006, 164 in 2009 and 478 in 2010. Multiple charges are often heard in single cases. The lèse-majesté law says anyone who defames, insults or threatens the king, queen, heir apparent or regent should be punished with three to 15 years in prison, but does not define what constitutes such behaviour. “It has become conflated with any criticism of the institution,” said Streckfuss, who drew a parallel with McCarthyism. “It’s the easiest, most vague and ambiguous shot at people.” Earlier this month 22-year-old student blogger Norawase Yospiyasathien was charged. Other cases causing particular alarm include those of Somsak Jiamteerasakul, a historian who proposed reforms to the monarchy; Thai-born American citizen Joe Gordon, whose blog linked to a banned book on the king; and webmaster Chiranuch Premchaiporn, accused of not deleting user comments deemed to insult the king quickly enough. Chiranuch’s trial under the computer crimes act resumes next month, and police could yet act on a separate complaint under the lèse-majesté law. She faces up to 50 years in jail, though sentences are often reduced after conviction. “We can’t deny any more that there is a problem,” said Chiranuch, who runs the independent Prachathai news site. “There’s strong evidence that, with the political conflict, this law has been abused.” Hundreds of scholars, lawyers, writers and activists have joined calls for reform of the law. They stress they are not questioning the monarchy, but the way the lèse-majesté provision has been used. “[People] are using it as a political tool to destroy their enemies,” Worachet Pakeerut, a law professor at Thammasat University, told Associated Press last month. Proposals include reducing the maximum sentence and allowing only an official royal body to register complaints. At present, anyone can; the royal family itself has never done so. Some advocates of reform point to comments the king made in 2005, saying it would be “problematic” if people were unable to criticise him. “I said [reform] would not be as easy as a change in the government,” said Chiranuch. “It is quite clear the former government have put pressure on the new one by pushing them to promise not to amend the law.” Some believe Chalerm made the announcement so Puea Thai could concentrate on other priorities. Others hope the tough rhetoric might help it avoid tough action. “It may be that Mr Chalerm was merely being overzealous in trying to assure the Puea Thai government’s loyalty to the monarchy, but it is ironic because of the many accusations that the lèse-majesté law was used by the previous government to persecute some of the party’s loyal supporters,” the Bangkok Post noted in an editorial on Sunday. “Brutal shutdown of lèse-majesté sites by the Yingluck administration is not the right way to win the heart and mind and protect the institution,” warned the red-shirt-aligned Ratchaprasong News in a tweet. Thailand Tania Branigan guardian.co.uk
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Controversy surrounds government plans over independent counselling of women considering terminations The head of the Royal College of General Practitioners has warned that government moves to shake up pre-abortion counselling for women could create new barriers and set the system back 25 years. Clare Gerada defended abortion charities, disputing accusations that they are biased in their counselling and encourage women to have abortions because they are subsequently paid to carry out the terminations. The government has announced a change in the rules to ensure that women are also offered counselling provided independently of the charity-run services, such as the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) and Marie Stopes. MPs who are backed by anti-abortion groups claim the move justifies the argument that there is a conflict of interest in the way services are run. Nadine Dorries, the Conservative MP who is leading the campaign, has confirmed she still intends to make an attempt to amend the health and social care bill when it returns to the Commons next week. She wants to guarantee that counselling is independent of the charities, even though the government insists it can change the rules without legislating. Gerada, who has previously worked in abortion clinics, told the Guardian: “There is no agenda in abortion services, there is no pressure at all to encourage women to have an abortion. They encourage women to make a decision about what they want to do. “The idea that BPAS or Marie Stopes are colluding to make a profit is wrong. “If these independent counsellors include GPs, which I suspect they will, we know what happened before when you had a service that relied on GPs signing the forms. You had delays as some are conscientious objectors. Why fix what’s not broken? It’s worked well for 25 years. “I work [as a GP] in Lambeth. I’ve never heard of abuse in this system. Anything that puts a barrier between a woman to make a choice in timely manner must be a bad thing and will simply reverse the advances of the past 25 years.” If the Speaker chooses to select the controversial amendment, MPs of every party will be given a free vote, as is the tradition with votes on abortion. Other recent attempts to change the abortion laws have been defeated. This time, though, owing to the more nuanced nature of the proposal and a widespread belief that the new intake of Tory MPs are more socially conservative, the outcome is expected to be very close. Frank Field, the Labour MP who tabled the amendments with Dorries, said he had received assurances from health minister Anne Milton that the government would propose in amendments to the bill that local authorities be advised to consider the independence of advice offered in counselling services, allowing a debate in the chamber. Field has asked Milton for assurances that if there is then a move to introduce a mandatory order to offer independent advice, there should be a debate and vote in the Commons. “It is a general principle that advice and services should be separate,” Field said. “I have no evidence of that [biased advice]. But we had no evidence of mis-selling of pensions until people investigated.” He said he was not an anti-abortionist and that he had refused meetings with known anti-abortion groups to discuss the plans. Abortion Health Women Health policy Public services policy Frank Field Polly Curtis Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk
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World-famous artist accuses officials of denying people their basic rights and describes Beijing as a ‘city of violence’ Ai Weiwei, the Chinese artist held by the authorities for almost three months earlier this year, has attacked injustice in China in a passionate article fuelled by his own experiences of detention. He accused officials of “deny[ing] us basic rights” and compared migrant workers to slaves, describing Beijing as “a city of violence” and “a constant nightmare”. But one of the most powerful passages describes how people “become like mad” as they are held in isolation and how detainees “truly believe [captors] can do anything to you”. His remarks, in an article about Beijing published on the website of Newsweek magazine , are certain to anger Chinese security officials. They come days after it emerged that China is reportedly planning to give police legal powers to hold some suspects for up to six months without telling their families. Campaigners say the move would legitimise and potentially increase the number of secret detentions. Ai’s own 81-day detention caused an international outcry. It was the most high-profile case in a sweeping crackdown that saw dozens of activists, dissidents and lawyers held earlier this year. State media said he was held for economic crimes and released in June “because of his good attitude in confessing” and a chronic illness. His family and supporters believe he was targeted due to his social and political activism. The 54-year-old artist is not able to give interviews but confirmed that he had written the article. He described it simply as “a piece about the place I live in”. Ai’s bail conditions reportedly prevent him from discussing what happened to him in detention, although a source gave Reuters a detailed account of events, which included more than 50 interrogations . The restrictions are also said to ban him from using social media – although he sent a brief flurry of angry tweets recently about friends who had been enmeshed in his case – but not from writing. “The worst thing about Beijing is that you can never trust the judicial system,” he wrote in the Newsweek article. “It’s like a sandstorm … everything is constantly changing, according to somebody else’s will, somebody else’s power.” He went on: “My ordeal made me understand that on this fabric, there are many hidden spots where they put people without identity … only your family is crying out that you’re missing. But you can’t get answers from the street communities or officials, or even at the highest levels, the court or the police or the head of the nation. My wife has been writing these kinds of petitions every day [while he was held], making phone calls to the police station every day. Where is my husband? “You’re in total isolation. And you don’t know how long you’re going to be there, but you truly believe they can do anything to you. There’s no way to even question it. You’re not protected by anything. Why am I here? Your mind is very uncertain of time. You become like mad. It’s very hard for anyone. Even for people who have strong beliefs.” The artist described the capital as two cities. The first was one of power and money, peopled by officials, coal bosses and the heads of big companies who help to keep “the restaurants and karaoke bars and saunas … very rich”. The second was a place of desperation, he wrote, calling migrant workers the city’s slaves. Ai, who helped to design the “bird’s nest” national stadium for the Olympics – but publicly turned on the games before they began – said none of his art represented the capital. He added: “The Olympics did not bring joy to the people.” He also warned: “Beijing tells foreigners that they can understand the city, that we have the same sort of buildings … “Officials who wear a suit and tie like you say we are the same and we can do business. But they deny us basic rights.” Ai described people giving him quiet support when he went out last week, for example patting him on the shoulder, but only in “a secretive way” because they were not willing to speak out. He said people told him to “either leave, or be patient and watch how they die. I really don’t know what I’m going to do.” China Ai Weiwei Olympics & the media Tania Branigan guardian.co.uk
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Despite pub closures and a dwindling lager market, record number of microbreweries are opening With the eager step of a man who’s just turned 40 and found his purpose in life, Paul Walker strides in his wellies across the flagstones of the 14th-century Union Inn in Denbury, south Devon, and orders two pints of Denbury Dreamer. We sip carefully, appreciatively. It’s
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