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News & ArtsSaturday, November 17, 2012
News Saturday Morning News: Ikea Slaves, Meteor Showers, and a Suspicious Watch
Posted by Al Jacobs on Sat, Nov 17, 2012 at 10:08 AM
Arena Dreaming: What could the SoDo arena look like? Check out these speculative drawings by a real-life arena architecture firm.
Secession Obsession: From Harry Cheadle at Vice, an oversimplified list of benefits that come with states' secession from the U.S. It's about as likely as JFK's corpse doing the Cha Cha Slide, but just imagine the glory of Cascadia.
Cue the Slow Bass Guitar: A district attorney in central New York state lies about his brief adult film career to get reelected, then reneges his lie and apologizes to reporters. His abbreviated career in '70s pornography aroused his interest in administering Justice.
Law and Disorder: A suspected auto thief released on a daylong furlough to visit his dying mother was recaptured in Yakima after two weeks as a wanted man. Police should never trust a suspected carjacker with a killer neck tattoo.
Lingonberry Slave Labor: After relying on East German prisoners to manufacture sensible, yet stylish furniture without pay, Ikea now "regrets" the employees' shameless exploitation.
Time (for Jail): A watch chock full o' wires and gadgetry is not an ideal fashion accessory when flying commercial. A man arrested at Oakland International Airport for his allegedly suspicious watch, which he calls "art," learned that lesson. Of course, there were no explosives found. But has Art finally found a way to threaten our safe skies?
That 2:30 Feeling: Because of its link to 13 deaths and at least one "spontaneous abortion," 5-Hour Energy drink is under investigation by the FDA.
Take a Meteor Shower: Right now, tiny bits of the comet Tempel-Tuttle are falling through our atmosphere wicked-fast. Find some clear skies and watch you a good ol' meteor shower tonight.
In time for Thanksgiving, check out these foods that resemble cooked turkeys. Be sure to cringe at the turkey-shaped meatloaf.
And watch these people's faces when a bomb goes off during a CNN interview:
1
That's a nearly 5minute video.
Aint no body got time for that.
(it's at 2:50 and only mildly interesting))
Aint no body got time for that.
(it's at 2:50 and only mildly interesting))
2
Your awesome neck tatoo guy looks like a white supremist. For some reason, they love eyelid tatoos.
3
Jeebus Keerist, did he get some weird neck-stretching operation in order to fit that monstrosity on there?
4
@1.Typical American unwilling to spend 5 minutes on any news story and disinterested in the sufferring of others.
6
@ 1, did you know that you can hover your mouse over the progress bar at the bottom of the video and see a still from that moment in time? You can find the "interesting" moment that way.
7
Cheers to support of the UN position: cessation of Israeli confiscation of Palestinian territories and resumption of 1967 borders with small modification for peace.
8
Dereliction of Duty: The FBI File
If stealing government funds is still against the law, it's time to identify the real criminals.
Now that a few days of salacious gossip and humor have passed, let us examined the important facts.
What was the crime and who committed it?
Sometime back, Jill Kelley is supposed to have received several bitchy emails. She contacted the FBI agent (the shirtless or topless guy in that photo) and the FBI initiated a national security investigation, based upon bitchy emails received by social gadfly, Jill Kelley? ? ? ? ?
That would have been thrown out of any honest court by any honest judge --- 'nuff said about that!
So the FBI, led by FBI Director Robert Mueller III, spent how much money, how many millions, and monopolized how much crucial time in investigating several bitchy emails received by social gadfly, Jill Kelley? ? ? ?
Now, theft of government funds is most certainly a crime --- and appears to be the one and only major crime involved in this matter.
Certainly, I am no fan of Gen. Petraeus, and given the recent remarks by David Gergen, Richard Cohen and other rightwingers, the general's sex life won't be hurting as these rightwingers appear to be lining up to render BJs unto the general (it was predictable: begin passing marriage equality laws, and all the rightwingers would "go Gay").
Untold government funds wasted (or worse, who knows how much expense account padding took place --- recall how those CIA agents stayed at the best hotels and ate at the finest restaurants in Europe when they were involved in those "extreme rendition" escapades during the Bush administration --- another "national security" investigation!!!!!!), untold wasted government employees and systems' time wasted on non-national security issues, when the only crime involved was the FBI's theft of government funds, which such wasting of monies could easily, and legally, be construed to be.
We should have a full-scale investigation of both the FBI and the background of its director, Robert Mueller III --- back to the time when he was involved in the BCCI investigation when he was chief of the criminal division at the Department of Justice under George H.W. Bush.
Something is amiss here; something is quite, quite wrong with this picture!
(Ya know, if the FBI feebs, and the CIA and the NSA don't have time to interdict a repeat of the 2004 election fraud perpetrated by Karl Rove and his paid minions, they certainly don't deserve those handsome salaries and perks, now do they?)
http://wonkette.com/489966/anonymous-cla…
More...
If stealing government funds is still against the law, it's time to identify the real criminals.
Now that a few days of salacious gossip and humor have passed, let us examined the important facts.
What was the crime and who committed it?
Sometime back, Jill Kelley is supposed to have received several bitchy emails. She contacted the FBI agent (the shirtless or topless guy in that photo) and the FBI initiated a national security investigation, based upon bitchy emails received by social gadfly, Jill Kelley? ? ? ? ?
That would have been thrown out of any honest court by any honest judge --- 'nuff said about that!
So the FBI, led by FBI Director Robert Mueller III, spent how much money, how many millions, and monopolized how much crucial time in investigating several bitchy emails received by social gadfly, Jill Kelley? ? ? ?
Now, theft of government funds is most certainly a crime --- and appears to be the one and only major crime involved in this matter.
Certainly, I am no fan of Gen. Petraeus, and given the recent remarks by David Gergen, Richard Cohen and other rightwingers, the general's sex life won't be hurting as these rightwingers appear to be lining up to render BJs unto the general (it was predictable: begin passing marriage equality laws, and all the rightwingers would "go Gay").
Untold government funds wasted (or worse, who knows how much expense account padding took place --- recall how those CIA agents stayed at the best hotels and ate at the finest restaurants in Europe when they were involved in those "extreme rendition" escapades during the Bush administration --- another "national security" investigation!!!!!!), untold wasted government employees and systems' time wasted on non-national security issues, when the only crime involved was the FBI's theft of government funds, which such wasting of monies could easily, and legally, be construed to be.
We should have a full-scale investigation of both the FBI and the background of its director, Robert Mueller III --- back to the time when he was involved in the BCCI investigation when he was chief of the criminal division at the Department of Justice under George H.W. Bush.
Something is amiss here; something is quite, quite wrong with this picture!
(Ya know, if the FBI feebs, and the CIA and the NSA don't have time to interdict a repeat of the 2004 election fraud perpetrated by Karl Rove and his paid minions, they certainly don't deserve those handsome salaries and perks, now do they?)
http://wonkette.com/489966/anonymous-cla…
9
Here's my rendering of the "new" NBA stadium:
http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pic…
Hint..we already got one!
http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pic…
Hint..we already got one!
13
@4
Typical American (you) *willing* to spend 5 minutes of your time gawking at other people suffering
Typical American (you) *willing* to spend 5 minutes of your time gawking at other people suffering
14
The CNN video: the tragedy is in the escalation of the bombing during the entirety of the interview. The frightened man in Gaza vs. the "in-fear" man in Israel. The human reaction of the CNN reporter is touching. It's worth five minutes.
15
"Lingonberry Slave Labor" is an apt headline, witting or not. Swedish wild berry wholesalers have been contracting out the picking to intermediaries who either lure or import Southeast Asian workers, and more recently Eastern European workers, to Sweden. Sometimes, there's no work for them when they get there and sometimes they don't get paid for the work they've done, so they end up stranded in Sweden with no money.
As for Ikea's use of East German prison labor, I'm sure their executives felt guilty about it all the way to the bank, just like those Swedish wild berry wholesalers.
As for Ikea's use of East German prison labor, I'm sure their executives felt guilty about it all the way to the bank, just like those Swedish wild berry wholesalers.
16
@15, got any links for the lingonberry-picker story? All I could find was this English-language item on a Finnish site:
http://yle.fi/uutiset/thai_berry_pickers…
I keep a lot of lingonberries around (IKEA's "Sylt Lingon" preserves, 15 to a case, iirc) and use them for Swedish pancakes, PB&J's, meat sauces, etc. Not modifying my winter provisioning without credible info.
http://yle.fi/uutiset/thai_berry_pickers…
I keep a lot of lingonberries around (IKEA's "Sylt Lingon" preserves, 15 to a case, iirc) and use them for Swedish pancakes, PB&J's, meat sauces, etc. Not modifying my winter provisioning without credible info.
17
@16, from the articles I've read, the exploitation in Sweden isn't limited to lingonberries: it's wild berry picking as a whole. Only a few articles specify which berries, which might have thwarted your search.
Most articles are from 2010, but here's one from 2012: http://phys.org/news/2012-06-berry-labor…
Most articles are from 2010, but here's one from 2012: http://phys.org/news/2012-06-berry-labor…
20
Large pro-choice protests today in Ireland. Savita Halappanavar, the 31 year old Indian dentist who died after being denied an abortion, will be remembered.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/brea…
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/brea…
22
@17: Thanks for that. A credible organization. I'm drafting a letter to IKEA asking about their specific labor practices in regard to that product.
23
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A bailout of the people by the people!
As of this moment, Rolling Jubilee has raised $337,700 to abolish $6,758,826 of debt.
Rolling Jubilee is a Strike Debt project that buys debt for pennies on the dollar, but instead of collecting it, abolishes it. Together we can liberate debtors at random through a campaign of mutual support, good will, and collective refusal. Debt resistance is just the beginning. Join us as we imagine and create a new world based on the common good, not Wall Street profits.
Learn more or contribute.
On Twitter: @StrikeDebt || #RollingJubilee
In the media:
On Democracy Now:
Rolling Jubilee: Buying Up Distressed Debt, Occupy Offshoot Bails Out the People, Not the Banks
At Yes! magazine:
With Rolling Jubilee, 99 Percent Beats Wall Street at Its Own Game
On CBC's Day 6:
Strike Debt's Rolling Jubilee
At the NPI Advocate (the Northwest Progressive Institute's blog):
Occupy offshoot launches “Rolling Jubilee”
At the NY Times:
Occupy Wall St. Offshoot Aims to Erase People’s Debts
At Forbes:
Finally, An Occupy Wall Street Idea We Can All Get Behind, The Rolling Jubilee
24
@16 (rob!): Sorry for the delay. For some reason I no longer remember, I get email alerts from an English-language Swedish paper called The Local.* I first read about the berry picking monkey business in The Local a couple/three years ago and I've seen it reported on there maybe a couple of times since. I don't have links to the best stories, but you should come up with something useful by googling:
berry picker asian OR "eastern european" site:thelocal.se
*I never bothered unsubscribing because, hey, Lisbeth Salander and social democracy!
berry picker asian OR "eastern european" site:thelocal.se
*I never bothered unsubscribing because, hey, Lisbeth Salander and social democracy!
25
Thanks, PCM. A custom search, no less!
It seems that exploitation has shifted from Southeast Asians to Eastern Europeans because, due to a change in the laws in 2011, "Asian pickers are suddenly more expensive," but "as EU citizens don’t need a work permit the new guidelines don’t apply to them." Lovely.
...The wry thought comes to me unbidden of an old, old, old Lily Tomlin routine, "Glenna and Jane":
It seems that exploitation has shifted from Southeast Asians to Eastern Europeans because, due to a change in the laws in 2011, "Asian pickers are suddenly more expensive," but "as EU citizens don’t need a work permit the new guidelines don’t apply to them." Lovely.
...The wry thought comes to me unbidden of an old, old, old Lily Tomlin routine, "Glenna and Jane":
The piece ends in present time (the late 1970s) as Glenna as harried mother talks to her friend Jane on the phone, making plans to ‘‘go to the Unitarian for the fundraiser,’’ and then ‘‘Lord & Taylor. There’s a big sale.’’ It ends finally with her speaking to her maid. ‘‘Rosita, I am going out. Yo voy ahora. I’ve left the grocery list on the counter. Remember, no lettuce and no grapes. Adios.’’
27
Stephen Colbert @StephenAtHome
Whatever you do, do NOT support Occupy Wall Street's debt relief drive here: rollingjubilee.org . Debt, like true love, is forever.
1,498 Retweets 447 Favorites
28
Dan Savage @fakedansavage
Hey, #rollingjubilee? How can I get involved? What can I do? I love -- LOVE -- this cause.
Gee... if only there were some way Dan could help get the word out about Rolling Jubilee.
Maybe if there was like, I don't know, some kind of public forum, that lots of people viewed, where Dan could maybe write a description of Rolling Jubilee and how people can help?
But... does such a place even exist??
Aw, heck. I'm stumped.
Oh well!
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