May 11, 2011 · 7:17 pm

Meet The Workers Who Make Your iPad: 100 Hours Of Overtime, No-Suicide Pacts, Standing For 14 Hours A Day

It’s not just Apple.  These conditions are not unusual in overseas factories…

This is the type of environment most U.S  companies actually accept, if not encourage to get cheap labor overseas.  At least until they get caught and the media publicizes it….

These practices would not be tolerated in the US- and should not be tolerated anywhere.

There is a price to pay for the large Corporate profits we are seeing.  It’s being paid here with loss of jobs and overseas with intolerable job conditions.

It’s just wrong…

Oh, and even more evidence John McCain is either senile, uninformed, stupid or intentionally misleading people.   Take your pick…

Back in March, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) astoundingly claimed that the iPad and iPhone are “built in the United States of America.” This news must have been a great surprise to the Chinese workers who work for Taiwanese-based manufacturing giant Foxconn, which is notorious for the poor conditions at its factories and the wave of suicides at its plants.

After much of the international media covered the abuses at Foxconn’s factories, the company, along with the major American corporations it supplies — like Apple and HP — announced that it would be reforming its practices.

Yet a new report from Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM), a Hong Kong-based advocacy and research group, finds that many of the practices that led more than a dozen workers committ suicide continue to live on. SACOM conducted a comprehensive study of practices at several Foxconn factories over the months of March and April and found that a number of shocking policies are in place. Here are some of the highlights of their study:

More:   ThinkProgress » Blog Archive » Meet The Workers Who Make Your iPad: 100 Hours Of Overtime, No-Suicide Pacts, Standing For 14 Hours A Day.

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May 11, 2011 · 8:38 am

Democrats up 50-46 Percent in Battle for House

I suspected this would happen once the Republicans in the House proposed doing away with Medicare….

Duh…..

I just hope the notoriously short sighted American electorate remembers this by next year….

From CNN:

Washington (CNN) – It’s one of the storylines for 2012: Can the Democrats win back control of the House of Representatives?

A new poll suggests that they may have a chance.

According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Tuesday, the Democrats have a four-point margin over the Republicans in the battle for control of Congress. The poll indicates that 50 percent registered voters say if the election for Congress was held today, they would vote for the Democrat in their district, with 46 percent saying they would cast a ballot for the Republican in their district. The Democrats’ four-point margin is within the poll’s sampling error.

The GOP won 63 seats in last year’s midterm elections, taking back control of the House for the first time in four years. CNN’s last poll conducted before the midterms indicated the Republicans had a six-point advantage over the Democrats.

GOP victories in 2010 were due to some major historical shifts. More women voted for Republican candidates than Democratic candidates in 2010 for the first time since exit polling began in the early 1970s. Voters who never attended college – generally considered to be the bulk of the blue-collar vote – voted Republican in House races for the first time since 1994. And 56 percent of independents voted Republican in 2010, the highest that figure has ever been in exit polls.

“Now the Democrats are seeing some of their natural constituencies coming home,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “In the latest generic ballot, Democrats have a ten-point lead among women, and a nine-point lead among voters who never attended college. But the Republicans still have a plurality of the Independent voters, 47 percent to 43 percent.”

The poll also indicates a geographic split that may favor the Democrats, with Democratic candidates pulling a majority in the Northeast, Midwest and West. Republicans win a majority in the generic ballot only in the South.

“It’s far too early to use these results to accurately forecast the 2012 congressional elections,” Holland notes. “But it does indicate that some of the shifts that swept the GOP into power in 2010 may be shifting back.”

The generic ballot question asks respondents if they would vote for a Democrat or Republican in their congressional district, without naming any specific candidates. It’s used by many polling organizations, including CNN/Opinion Research Corporation surveys.

via CNN Poll: Democrats up 50-46 percent in battle for House – CNN Political Ticker – CNN.com Blogs.

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May 11, 2011 · 6:57 am

Whitney Houston In Rehab: It’s Crack Again

It’s truly scary when Bobby Brown is coming off as the sane, responsible one….

This is really tragic.

Whitney could have been the biggest thing in show business.

Beautiful, an amazing singer, on her way to becoming a very good actress…

Then Crack…

And she’s turning out to be more Judy Garland than Barbra Streisand…

So sad to think of what might have been….

Singer Whitney Houston was using crack again when she went back to rehab, RadarOnline had learned, and her use of the highly-addictive drug terrified even ex-husband Bobby Brown!

A source close to R&B star Brown said he is so worried about his ex-wife that he fears “she might not pull through.”

“Whitney is doing crack again,” the source said about the 47-year-old Houston, the singer of top 1990s hits like I’ll Always Love You. “It’s the worst it’s ever been. Whitney went on tour again, and that’s when the relapse occurred.”

Brown, 42, has also told friends that Houston, 47, has increasingly isolated herself.

“Whitney’s shutting a lot of people out of her life,” the source said. “It is a dire situation.”

Bobby and Whitney were married for 14 years and were officially divorced in 2007. Both have a history of substance abuse. Their 18-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina, was recently caught on camera snorting lines of cocaine.

via Whitney In Rehab: It’s Crack Again, And Even Bobby Brown’s Freaked Out! | Radar Online.

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May 10, 2011 · 10:30 pm

Support for Third U.S. Party Dips, but Is Still Majority View

We don’t just need a third party, we need at least 20 of them….

I would love to see true representative democracy with multiple parties representing multiple interests being forced to negotiate to a consensus…

It would be so much harder to buy 20 parties than 2 or 3….

Fifty-two percent of Americans believe the Republican and Democratic parties do such a poor job of representing the people that a third party is needed. Forty percent believe they do an adequate job. The percentage calling for a third party is down from August, when it tied its high of 58%.

Support for a third party has fluctuated since October 2003, when Gallup first asked this question. The majority of Americans thought a third party was not needed at that time. Since then, Americans have generally favored a third party, but twice there has been an even division of opinion — both of which occurred in the fall of an election year.

Majority of Republicans Back Third Party for First Time

Gallup has always found political independents to be most desirous of a third party, and 68% currently are. But right now there is also a significant party gap, with 52% of Republicans favoring a third party, compared with 33% of Democrats.

This is the first time Gallup finds a significantly higher percentage of Republicans than Democrats in favor of a third party. During much of President Bush’s term, the opposite was true, with Democrats more likely to favor the formation of a third party. That gap narrowed in 2007, after the Democrats’ victories in the 2006 midterms, and there has been a minimal difference between the two parties until the current poll.

via Support for Third U.S. Party Dips, but Is Still Majority View.

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May 10, 2011 · 9:56 pm

7 Restaurant Tricks – Ways for You to Spend More

Interesting article from Dr Mercola and Yahoo Finance…

Menu engineering is used by restaurants to steer you to order high-profit items. Yahoo finance has collected a list of some common menu ploys:

  1. First in show. You are more likely to order the first item on a list in a given section of the menu (such as the “chicken” or “beef” section.) That’s where many restaurants place the most profitable dish of that type.
  2. Menu Siberia. Unprofitable dishes, on the other hand, tend to get banished to a corner that’s less noticeable.
  3. Visual aids. Many menus box off something they want to promote, because if you draw a line around it, people will order it. Photos also sell dishes.
  4. Package deals. Even if only a small percentage of the McDonald’s customers spend some extra dollars on a meal package, that translates to millions in additional revenue.
  5. Dollar-sign avoidance. Some menus avoid dollar signs and decimals — keeping money abstract makes spending less threatening.
  6. The small plate-large plate conundrum. A restaurant may offer two sizes of the same dish; that price differential is almost pure profit.
  7. Ingredient embroidery. If the menu makes each ingredient sound ultra-special, it will sell better; it may be the same dish you would get anywhere else, but you’ll start to think you can only get it there.

via 7 Restaurant Tricks – Ways for You to Spend More.

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May 10, 2011 · 9:08 pm

Elizabeth Taylor at a Florida “Fat Farm”

I want to go!

This sounds like so much more fun than that “boot camp” stuff that’s the rage now for getting back into shape….

I was born too late…

From Maury Hopson in Vanity Fair:

When Elizabeth was living in Washington, D.C., during the late 70s, her spirits were not great. She spent a lot of time in bed, but not for the usual reasons. She and I joked that her only exercise was changing the TV channels with the remote—I told her she was going to end up with an overdeveloped thumb. Plus, the fried chicken, biscuits, and creamed gravy made by the wonderful chef in the downstairs kitchen were only an intercom call away.

When she would come up to New York, the photographers were always everywhere she went, and some unflattering photographs of her began to appear in the press. As her friend, I knew it was hurtful. So I talked to her about going to a spa to drop a few pounds and clean up a little. In those days, there weren’t rehabs all over the country like there are now—only luxurious “fat farms” where people voluntarily checked in to get in shape and stop drinking, all while being pampered with massages and facials. Not exactly where one went after an “intervention.” At the time, I had been to several of the more high-profile ones for fashion shoots with Glamour and Vogue.

Elizabeth reluctantly agreed to go, if I would go with her. I contacted a friend of mine at Vogue, who told me about a facility in Florida that was low-key and only a short flight from Washington. I flew down from New York, picked Elizabeth up, and off we went. The flight was stormy and terrible. We had one last drink. By the time we landed, we could have used another—but instead we just got into the car provided for us and drove in the dark to our little two-bedroom bungalow on the edge of the spa’s golf course. We toyed with the idea of naming it “Butterball 8,” but decided on “Butterfield Ate”—our home for the next three weeks.

More: Photos: Charming Photos of Elizabeth Taylor at a Florida “Fat Farm” | Vanity Fair.

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May 10, 2011 · 8:52 pm

With 56% of American Internet connections now capped, advocates ask FCC for probe | The Raw Story

To me, this seems like just another way to limit access to information…

This is so wrong…

Unlimited Internet is the norm in most other countries…

Just another way for the telecom’s to make more money….

They are as bad as the Oil Companies…

The practice of capping Internet bandwidth and selling it as a metered commodity has fully taken hold, to the point where 56 percent of U.S. internet connections are now on plans that restrict how much information users can access before triggering additional fees.

For an Internet landscape that’s been accustomed to unlimited access to information the world over, this represents a sea-change for many broadband subscribers. And to at least two prominent Washington, D.C. advocacy groups, it’s cause for immense concern.

That’s why the directors of Public Knowledge and New America’s Open Technology Initiative — two Washington tech policy groups — have written to the Federal Communications Commission to request they investigate the potential for these practices encouraging anti-competitive activities.

“These caps, which are now a fact of life for 56% of all broadband users, can perniciously undermine each of the goals set out by the Commission in the National Broadband Plan while at the same time stifling the competition and innovation that has established itself as the sine qua non of the internet economy,” they wrote.

More:  With 56% of American Internet connections now capped, advocates ask FCC for probe | The Raw Story.

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May 10, 2011 · 6:28 pm

Woman Strips Naked on Delta Flight

Nothing this interesting ever happens when I travel…

And I’ve been on hundreds-if not thousands-  of flights…

Talk about in-flight entertainment. Passengers on a Delta flight Saturday got a “show” when a woman stripped naked and began to make a scene during their flight.

Flight 6562, en route from Chicago to New York, was descending to Kennedy Airport when the “emotionally disturbed” woman removed her clothes, reports USA TODAY.

A Newsday manager who was also on the flight said flight attendants tried to cover the woman with a blanket, but she yelled “No! No! No!”

The woman, reportedly in her late 20s, was taken into custody by local law enforcement. According to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, she was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens.

via Woman Strips Naked on Delta Flight – AOL Travel News.

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May 10, 2011 · 5:18 pm

GOP Rep. Aaron Schock, and His Abs, On “Men’s Health” Cover

Mark my words….

It’s only a matter of time…

If he’s straight, Judy Garland never touched a pill….

How does this play in Peoria?

Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) is taking an unconventional approach to promote a new healthy lifestyles campaign, flaunting his chiseled chest on the cover of the new Men’s Health magazine, which declares him “America’s fittest congressman.”

Schock, who represents central and western Illinois in the House, already had the distinction of being the first U.S. congressman born in the 1980s. The Huffington Post declared him “hottest freshman.” Now, Men’s Health says that he’s the first politician to ever appear shirtless in the magazine.

An article in the June issue describes Schock as “pretty fly for a Republican from Peoria.” Appearing at a photo shoot in a “form-fitting Zegna suit and tapered shirt that show off both his musculature and his fashion savvy,” it adds that he “looks more like a hit man from a European spy thriller than a boring politician.”

Schock, who turns 30 later this month, had previously drawn attention from gossip sites like TMZ, which posted a photo of him wearing only a bathing suit. He said he wanted to use the notoriety for a positive cause.

via Rep. Aaron Schock, and his abs, land on Men’s Health cover – latimes.com.

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May 10, 2011 · 3:42 pm

Oprah on Broadway

Somehow, I just can’t see the Big O doing 8 shows a week….

I’ll wish her well and give her credit for trying….

She will surely pack the houses….

And anything that brings attention to live theatre is a good thing….

Oprah Winfrey has long said she would love to return to acting. But as her iconic, Chicago-based talk show approaches its final episode, Winfrey clearly is moving quickly to turn her dream of appearing on Broadway into reality.

“I have a stack of plays in my bag right now that I am reading,” Winfrey said with great enthusiasm and determination last week as part of a frank and wide-ranging interview on her Chicago past and professional future that will appear May 22 in a special section of the Tribune. “And just this past weekend, I was in New York meeting with producers. We were just talking about what would be the best route to take. But yes, this is really going to happen. … Life is too short.

“I think,” Winfrey said, “that an ensemble production is the way I should go.”

Winfrey was very nearly already acting on Broadway. Kenny Leon, the director of the high-profile Broadway revivals of “Fences” and “A Raisin in the Sun,” came to Winfrey about two years ago and said he wanted her to appear in “Fences.” Talks, Winfrey said, progressed to a advanced and serious stage.

“I had always wanted to do “Fences,” Winfrey said. “I went through the idea of trying to take my show to New York, shoot a show during the daytime and appear on Broadway at night. But I couldn’t do it. And finally, Kenny said he couldn’t wait any longer.”

So that didn’t work out. But once “The Oprah Winfrey Show” has wrapped, Winfrey will have a lot more freedom.

via Oprah’s Broadway acting dream is on the express track – The Theater Loop.

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