Archive for May 1st, 2008

Dockworkers Protest Iraq War

Thursday, May 1st, 2008

[Quote:]

Thousands of dockworkers at West Coast ports stayed off the job on Thursday in what their union said was a call for an end to the war in Iraq.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union said more than 25,000 members in 29 ports stayed off the job. The action came despite an order issued Wednesday by an arbitrator directing the union to tell its members to report for work as usual in response to a request from employers.

“Longshore workers are standing down on the job and standing up for America,” Bob McEllrath, the union’s president, said in a statement. “We’re supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it’s time to end the war in Iraq.”

Did CNN run this at the top of the news?

Posted in News | 2 Comments »

Italy posts salary details on web

Thursday, May 1st, 2008

[Quote:]

There has been outrage in Italy after the outgoing government published every Italian’s declared earnings and tax contributions on the internet.

The tax authority’s website was inundated by people curious to know how much their neighbours, celebrities or sports stars were making.

The Italian treasury suspended the website after a formal complaint from the country’s privacy watchdog.

[..]

The timing of the move, just days before the current administration hands over to incoming Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, was intriguing too, says our correspondent.

The outgoing government came to power promising to tackle Italians’ notoriously lax approach to paying tax.

Posted in Privacy | No Comments »

Mission Accomplished Day

Thursday, May 1st, 2008

[Dick Cheney, Five years ago on Mission Accomplished Day (May 1th, 2003):]

Every day, life in Iraq is improving as coalition troops secure unsafe areas, bring food and medical care to the needy and make sure Iraq’s drinking water is clean and dependable.

[Today, five years later:]

Iraq’s Nassriya Water Treatment Plant, the country’s largest reconstruction project, is a failure so far because it isn’t delivering sufficient water to enough people, a new audit says.

Inspectors in December and again in February found the U.S.-funded plant 200 miles (322 kilometers) south of Baghdad was operating at only 20 percent capacity, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction said in a report released today.

Posted in Mess O'Potamia | No Comments »

Play of the Day: Clinton visits gas station for cameras

Thursday, May 1st, 2008

[Quote:]

Hillary Rodham Clinton, a former first lady who hasn’t driven a car or pumped gas in many years because of Secret Service restrictions, joined a blue-collar worker at a filling station Wednesday to illustrate how the high price of gasoline is squeezing consumers.

The Democratic presidential candidate and sheet metal worker Jason Wilfing, 33, pulled into the station in a large white Ford 250 pickup truck, Clinton riding shotgun. Never mind that it wasn’t even Wilfing’s truck — he had borrowed his boss’s larger vehicle to accommodate Clinton’s security agent and personal assistant, who rode in the back.

Trailing Wilfing and Clinton was a Secret Service motorcade consisting of six gas-guzzling Suburbans, two squad cars and a green SUV bearing photographers and TV cameras. Several other reporters and cameramen stood shivering in unseasonably cold temperatures, ready to capture the multi-vehicle arrival.

Clinton and Wilfing stepped out of the car and approached the pump. Wilfing chose regular unleaded gasoline, and began filling the tank. The two engaged in chit chat, with New York senator mentioning her proposal for a temporary gas tax holiday to ease the price pinch on consumers.

The tank filled, Clinton looked at the price recorded at the pump and shook her head.

“Sixty-three dollars,” she said. “For just about half a tank.”

Shutters clicked, cameras whirred. Point made.

Posted in Indecision 2008 | No Comments »

Cartoons

Thursday, May 1st, 2008

Posted in Cartoon | No Comments »

Musicians tricked into appearing in anti-piracy propaganda movie

Thursday, May 1st, 2008

[Quote:]

Paul sez, “A couple of days ago, an “educational” documentary aimed at discouraging music piracy was announced in the Australian press. Today it appears that at least one of the artists was lied to about the intent of the piece. Allegedly, he was told the film was to be about trying to survive as a musician and his statements were spun to present the view that the life of an artist is made more difficult by the downloading of his work. The closing quote is great:

I’m from a punk rock band, it’s all about getting your music out any way you can - you don’t make money from the record, the record companies make the money from the record. If they can’t make money these days because they haven’t come onside with the way the world is going, it’s their own problem.

Link

Posted in Intellectual Property | No Comments »

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