golesusan says: George W . Bush Nervous Moment : George W . Bush Nervous Moment , George W . Bush tried much as President, including … http://t.co/225ZHXe
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Early Bird Special: The New Hot 5 performs “When the Saints Go Marching In” for a herd of cows in Autrans, France. YouTube Comment of Note: “Needs more cowbell.” [ vvv .] Earlier: Mariachi Connecticut performs for a beluga whale . Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : The Daily What Discovery Date : 12/09/2011 14:54 Number of articles : 3
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Just last week, we got our paws on Samsung’s Series 7 Slate , and it’s already making its second debut. This time around, however, it’s sporting a much more mouthwatering setup. No, it’s not dawning Lady Gaga’s edible leftovers; this new look comes courtesy of Microsoft’s much teased and hotly anticipated touch-friendly OS, Windows 8 . As you’ve likely already heard, the latest incarnation of the operating system is something entirely new for Redmond, and, as it turns out, the world. It’s unlike anything we’ve seen before, but that won’t stop us from making comparisons. Like Apple’s latest attempt at a desktop OS, Windows 8 borrows largely from its mobile kin, Window Phone 7 , bringing its signature live tiles to tablets and PCs, and from what we’ve seen it does so effortlessly. Before we go ruining a good thing, however, we have to point out that this isn’t everything Windows has to offer — it’s still a developers preview (and in turn, an OS under construction), and the device it’s running on hasn’t been approved as an official Windows 8 slate. Got all that? Good. Read on for our first impressions! Gallery: Windows 8 for tablets hands-on preview Continue reading Windows 8 for tablets hands-on preview (video) Windows 8 for tablets hands-on preview (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Enrique Iglesias & Pitbull Whistle Through New Single “I Like How It Feels”
September 13, 2011 No Comment
While some had declared that we were going to experience a Summer Of Sax with regards to pop music, it actually turned out to be a Summer Of Whistling. But just in case you didn’t get enough of a high-pitched chirp fix from Britney Spears’ “I Wanna Go,” OneRepublic’s “Good Life,” Foster The People’s “Pumped … More » Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Idolator Discovery Date : 12/09/2011 07:24 Number of articles : 3
Continue reading …Space in Japan is so tight and facilities so crunched that there are even waiting lines for corpses. But they can cool their heels in bizarre new “corpse hotels,” where families can visit them until the bodies are turned to ash in overbooked crematoriums, reports Reuters . The death rate is…
Continue reading …Intel’s New Atom Processors To Officially Support Android 2.3 Gingerbread Early Next Year
September 13, 2011 No Comment
Intel revealed in a promo video today their new line of E Series Atom processors (E6xx) just about ready to roll. The new Atom chips will officially support Android 2.3 Gingerbread sometime in January of 2012. Until now, Intel’s chips have never officially supported Android even though developers managed to get them playing nice with Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Android Phone Fans Discovery Date : 12/09/2011 11:20 Number of articles : 3
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The 64th Frankfurt motor show – the biggest in the world – runs until 25 September in Germany
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Major US banks accuse Murdoch and News Corporation of corporate misconduct extending far beyond UK Full text of shareholders’ complaint A prominent group of US banks and investment funds with substantial investments in News Corporation has issued a fresh legal complaint accusing the company of widespread corporate misconduct extending far beyond the phone-hacking excesses of News of the World. The legal action, lodged in the Delaware courts, is led by Amalgamated Bank, a New York-based chartered bank that manages some $12bn on behalf of institutional investors and holds about 1 million shares of News Corporation common stock. Its lawsuit is aimed against the members of News Corp’s board, including Rupert Murdoch himself, his sons James and Lachlan, and the media empire’s chief operating officer, Chase Carey. In the complaint, the shareholders accuse the board of allowing Murdoch to use News Corp as his “own personal fiefdom”. In addition to the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World, the complaint focuses on the controversial business tactics of two News Corp subsidiaries in America, its advertising arm News America Marketing and a manufacturer of satellite TV smart cards called NDS Group Plc. In legal documents, the shareholders allege that the two companies were accused by multiple parties of “stealing computer technology, hacking into business plans and computers and violating the law through a wide range of anti-competitive behaviour”. The complaint draws on several lawsuits and trial transcripts in which the News Corp subsidiaries were prosecuted by rival businesses for alleged misconduct. In the case of News America, the company reached settlements with three separate competitors amounting to $650m. In one trial, involving an advertising company called Floorgraphics, evidence was presented to the jury that News America had broken into its rival’s secure computer systems at least 11 times. The chief executive of News America, Paul Carlucci, was also quoted as having told Floorgraphics: “If you ever get into any of our businesses, I will destroy you. I work for a man who wants it all, and doesn’t understand anybody telling him he can’t have it all.” The complaint says that as Carlucci and Murdoch talk regularly, “it is inconceivable that Murdoch would not have been aware about the illegal tactics being employed by NAM to thwart comptetition”. In the case of NDS, the shareholder complaint refers to lawsuits launched by rivals Vivendi and EchoStar, who accused the company, which News Corp acquired in 1992, of illegally extracting the code of its smart cards used to unscramble satellite TV signals and charge subscribers. In court documents, Amalgamated Bank says NDS posted the Vivendi code on the internet, allowing hackers to break into broadcasts for free and inflicting more than $1bn in damages on its competitor. In a separate case, EchoStar accused NDS of illegally intercepting one of its satellite television broadcasts, and a court injunction was obtained preventing the News Corp subsidiary from “intercepting or receiving, anywhere in the US, EchoStar’s satellite television signal without authorisation”. Jay Eisenhofer, a lawyer representing Amalgamated Bank and its other leading complainants, the New Orleans Employees’ Retirement System and Central Laborers Pension Fund, said the details of the alleged misconduct at News America and NDS were significant as they suggested a wider culture of improper behaviour that went beyond the illegality at the now-defunct News of the World. “These cases establish a pattern of misconduct that extends far beyond the UK subsidiary. It demonstrates a corporate culture that allows this sort of misconduct to take place over a very long period of time.” Eisenhofer pointed out that several members of the News America and NDS boards were also directors of News Corp. The latest complaint from Amalgamated and its co-plaintiffs provides the most detailed and serious allegations yet against News Corp for alleged business improprieties carried out within the US. The company is already under investigation by the FBI, which is looking into suggestions that News of the World reporters tried to gain access to the phone records of 9/11 victims. The justice department is also carrying out a wide-ranging inquiry in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal into News Corp’s corporate behaviour to see whether any US laws were broken. There was no immediate response from News Corp to the allegations. News Corporation Phone hacking Rupert Murdoch James Murdoch United States Ed Pilkington guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …More Details Emerge in Republican Assault on Post Office and Postal Unions
September 13, 2011 No CommentThe Republican plans to weaken the United States Postal Service are starting to get more and more attention, including Sam Seder’s Majority Report , Thom Hartmann , Nicole Sandler’s radio show and Allison Kilkenny’s brilliant Truthout article : It was only a few years ago that the USPS was considered not only stable, but thriving. The biggest volume in pieces of mail handled by the Postal Service in its 236-year history was in 2006. The second and third busiest years were in 2005 and 2007, respectively. But it was two events: one crafted during the Bush years and another supervised by House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, that would cripple this once great institution. Perhaps it was its booming history that first drew Congress’ attention to the Postal Service in 2006 when it passed the Postal Accountability Enhancement Act (PAEA), which mandated that the Postal Service would have to fully fund retiree health benefits for future retirees. That’s right. Congress was demanding universal health care coverage. But it even went beyond that. Congress was mandating coverage for future human beings. “It’s almost hard to comprehend what they’re talking about, but basically they said that the Postal Service would have to fully fund future retirees’ health benefits for the next 75 years and they would have to do it within a ten-year window,” says Chuck Zlatkin, political director of the New York Metro Area Postal Union. It was an impossible order, and strangely, a task unshared by any other government service, agency, corporation or organization within the United States. The act meant that every September 30th, the USPS had to cough up $5.5 billion to the Treasury for the pre-funding of future retirees’ health benefits, meaning the Postal Service pays for employees 75 years into the future. The USPS is funding the retirement packages of people who haven’t even been born yet. We keep being told that email and the Internet have killed the Postal Service and it’s simply not true. Adjusting for the economic downturn, it appears the USPS is busier now than it ever has been before. E-commerce has been a huge boost as all the items people purchase online have to get to people’s homes and the cheapest way to do that is still through the Postal Service. The more details that we find out about this law, the PAEA, the worse it sounds. It passed on a voice vote. Why weren’t any Democrats or progressives in Congress asking questions as to the validity of this bill? Why didn’t they do their homework on its effects? And what about Postmaster General Tom Donahoe, who has been getting a lot of time on television in recent weeks, arguing for massive cuts to the USPS? What empower meant was to starve the Postal Service and its union. Since that day, Donahoe has abdicated his responsibility as the postmaster general, according to Zlatkin. The APWU’s collective bargaining agreements in the past have included layoff protections, which Donahoe immediately offered up as sacrifice to his Republican masters when he asked to bypass worker protection so he might obliterate 220,000 career positions from the workforce by 2015. “All he’s trying to do is appease that committee. He’s violated a contract he’s signed. He’s violated labor law. From my understanding, by going to Congress and having them change the laws to change our contracts, he’s violating the Constitution of the United States.” In fact, Zlatkin says his local union chapter is so disillusioned with the postmaster’s behavior that they’re putting out a press release to call for his resignation or termination. “He is either a well-meaning incompetent or a duplicitous front man for the people who want to privatize the postal service,” says Zlatkin. And, again, for those who don’t recognize why this is so important, the Postal Service is a vital cog in the American economy and is constitutionally mandated. It particularly benefits the poor: But as Marcy Wheeler explains, there are still tons of people who need the USPS’s services: poorer people, people using a post office box, rural people who live outside delivery areas, eBay-type entrepreneurs, immigrants sending care packages to people from their country of origin and nonprofits. “It’s part of the class war and it’s against the poor and it’s a class war against working people,” says Zlatkin. Of the 34 post offices the USPS is considering closing in New York City, 17 are in the Bronx. The South Bronx district ranks as the poorest Congressional district in America.
Continue reading …It was “attack Rick Perry night” at last night’s GOP debate in Florida -—to the extent that even Jon Huntsman got in on the act—and the Texan’s rivals succeeded in landing a few blows. Mitt Romney, who wisely ignored the Tea Party debate audience to focus on people…
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