Jason Gooljar

• Facebook Settlement

  ———- Forwarded message ———- From: Facebook <root+z_402_6@facebookmail.com> Date: Thu, Dec 3, 2009 at 6:02 PM Subject: Notice of class settlement Facebook is sending you this notice of a proposed class action settlement that may affect your legal rights as a Facebook member who may have used the Beacon program.  This summary notice is being [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 8:08pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• Chicken: Got Bacteria?

  Those bastards can’t process poultry right. It’s like Upton Sinclair and the Jungle again. Consumer Reports latest tests, released today, of 382 whole chickens bought from more than 100 stores in 22 states, found that two-thirds harbor disease-causing bacteria—salmonella, campylobacter or both (read the full report). While one name brand, Perdue, [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 4:02pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• When you actually enforce trade agreements good things happen

  The background is that China was flooding the US market with cheap tires, costing thousands of American jobs and forcing factories to close. Our agreement when China joined the WTO was that we could impose a tariff when “disruptions” occurred, and this was a disruption. President Bush refused to enforce [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 1:06pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• Union Gal doesn’t fly American Airlines :)

  Now, American Airlines, did you think you were going to get that one past me? Tease me with a great looking deal, only to piss on the workers who will be protecting my ass in the sky? Well, American Airlines, I think not! via Women, Unions, and Our Stories: Of Picket [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 11:03pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• Absoluteley criminal stereotype about construction workers must end…

  But at Gage, a fashionable cafe just a block from the pounding hammers and buzzing saws, Steve Thompson, a cyber-executive, said he considered $40-an-hour pay “unreasonable” for the crowd in steel-toe boots, “given their education and training.” To workers in the trades, that kind of talk is as familiar as the [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 5:42pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• Canada gets a little like Iran and China: Questions Amy Goodman on speaking out about Olympics

  U.S. journalist Amy Goodman was stopped at a Canadian border crossing south of Vancouver on Wednesday and questioned for 90 minutes by authorities concerned she was coming to Canada to speak against the Olympics. via US Journalist , Amy Goodman, Grilled at Canada Border Crossing | CommonDreams.org. I would not usually blog [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 5:12pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• Today Show highlights Richistan butler school

  I was watching the Today Show this morning where they did a segment on the Starkey School. I first read about this school in Robert Frank’s book Richistan. It is rather depressing to me to see people who publicly state that they were having trouble finding work or decided against [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 8:59am EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• You don’t need an extended warranty

  In general, we have found extended warranties to be a bad deal for the customer and have long advised against them. The most cautious consumers might want to consider an extended warranty for a repair-prone brand, provided that the warranty is both inexpensive and comprehensive and the cost of repairs [...]
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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 9:24pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• Health insurance corporations can literally kill you…literally

  “I went to Howard University hospital on May 9, but did not go to surgery until May 11. I had DC Alliance insurance, but they would not do surgery on me that night or the next day. They waited until Medicaid kicked in on May 11. Man, I stayed fucked [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 1:37am EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• Dear, American Medical Associaton: Stuff this turkey up your backsides, please. Thank You.

  When medical residents work 30-hour shifts, should they be guaranteed a five-hour nap? The Institute of Medicine thinks so, but the AMA disagrees. At its recent meeting, the AMA adopted a new policy to oppose the guaranteed sleep time. Mandatory naps could “have significant unintended consequences for continuity of patient [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 4:03pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• I will never eat movie popcorn again!

  A medium-sized popcorn and medium soda at the nation’s largest movie chain pack the nutritional equivalent of three Quarter Pounders topped with 12 pats of butter, according to a report released today by the advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest. via Pop Goes The Diet: Movie Popcorn Is [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 7:21pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• Hell: Where your iPhone really comes from

  By the time a gadget reaches Apples flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City or any other U.S. retailer, it may have passed through the hands of a heavily indebted Filipina migrant worker on the graveyard shift in Taiwan, a Taiwanese “quality control” worker wholl soon be fired [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 3:19pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• I don’t get Lieberman and Lincoln..

  She added: “But let me be perfectly clear. I am opposed to a new government-administered health care plan as a part of comprehensive health insurance reform, and I will not vote in favor of the proposal that has been introduced by leader Reid as it is written.” But Senator Lieberman, [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 2:15am EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• Local legislators put their federal counterparts to shame when dealing with foreclosures

  To protect neighboring property values and prevent health hazards that surround an unkempt, foreclosed home, the bill S66007 would require lending institutions to maintain the property so that it remains in a safe and habitable condition. To protect the tenant, the lending institution that acquires the foreclosed property must notify [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 3:00pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• Health Insurance corporations and their execs are terrorists

  Wonder why? Because insurance companies can profit from blocking down reform. A newly identified report from Goldman Sachs looked at the impact of health reform on major health insurance companies and put it in stark terms – insurance company earnings could be cut by 50% over the next decade if [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 1:17pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• I like Bernie Sanders’s banking act

  That said, Mr. Sanders’s philosophy seems sensible. Breaking up the biggest financial firms would remove unfair subsidies in the form of implicit government backing, sharply reduce systemic risk, and perhaps foster greater competition. Given the poor performance of some of the biggest financial conglomerates, it might even benefit shareholders. It’s [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 10:04pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• AG Cuomo goes after spaceman (Intel)

  New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed an antitrust lawsuit against Intel, alleging the chipmaker threatened computer makers and paid kickbacks to stop them from using competitors’ chips, Cuomo’s office said Wednesday. via NY attorney general Cuomo files antitrust suit against Intel – Nov. 4, 2009. What ever happened to the free [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 8:48pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• Workers get some sleep!

  This isn’t the first study to show that interrupting natural sleep cycles is harmful. A previous study whose mouse participants were even more unfortunate found that chronic jet lag can be fatal. Uh, yikes. Suddenly my frequent flier miles are looking less appealing. Another study, this time with hamsters in [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 8:19pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• Small things I gleamed from a trip to New York

  I’m heading back home to the DC Metro area tomorrow but I wanted to blog about three observations I’ve made in traveling back and forth from Manhattan to Hartsdale, NY to visit mom & sis. The first thing was an ad I saw in a subway car about a local [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 11:27am EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• Indoor plants good for the office

  New research shows that ornamental plants can drastically reduce levels of stress and ill health and boost performance levels at work because they soak up harmful indoor air pollution. via Indoor Plants Could Save Your Life | CommonDreams.org. If you work in an office it appears that getting some plants will help [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 9:18am EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• Screw credit cards and the banks!

  Lenders are making the moves in advance of tougher federal regulations for credit cards scheduled to take effect on Feb. 22. The new rules will limit how companies can modify credit card agreements, specifically prohibiting them from retroactively raising interest rates and fees on existing balances. via Credit Card Firms Hurry [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 12:09pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• Google Sidewiki: A new tool for activists

  Eric Lee over at Labourstart in his latest newsletter has pointed out the usefulness of Google Sidewiki. I do think this is actually quite brilliant. Unless you’re a regular reader of the official Google blog (and I’m not) you probably haven’t heard of Google SideWiki.  But a trade union activist in [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 6:39am EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• Why would a health group take money from Coca-Cola?

  The American Academy of Family Physicians has prompted outcry and lost members over its new six-figure alliance with the Coca-Cola Co. The deal will fund educational materials about soft drinks for the academy’s consumer health and wellness Web site, http://www.FamilyDoctor.org. via Coke to Bring You Advice About Health and Soft Drinks [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 5:43pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• No jobs in America so Americans are leaving!

  James is awaiting final approval on his visa to Korea. The hagwon, a special school for learning English, has hired him for about $1,000 a month plus living expenses. He explains that it’s the best he can do: even the Korean English-teaching market, which used to hire any college graduate [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 5:37pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• AFI workers win union

  But the spat ended on Wednesday when the union announced that it had negotiated an agreement with AFI to represent the Maryland theater workers. The agreement provided “significant wage, benefit and condition improvements,” according to a statement from the guild, which touted how Loeb had “put pressure on the company [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 7:49am EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• BPA in canned soup? Just great…

  The food processing world is reeling right now one day after a shocking new series of tests released by Consumer Reports revealed that many leading brands of canned foods contain Bisphenol A (BPA)—a toxic chemical linked to health risks including reproductive abnormalities, neurological effects, heightened risk of breast and prostate [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 8:31pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• Cereal ads detrimental to your kids health

  According to a new study from Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, the least healthy breakfast cereals are the most frequently and aggressively marketed to children. via Cereal ads might be bad for your child’s health : Consumer Reports Health Blog. I’m not surprised. Kids really have it rough [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 8:24pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• Latisse drug a lesson in subersive consumerist advertising

  But I still couldn’t quite believe the level of glam-infused over-the-topness the commercial imparted, making a powerful prescription drug that can cost more than $100 a month sound like just a really, really cool new makeup item (and featuring superstar Brooke Shields, no less). If I didn’t know better (and [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 8:18pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• What’s the matter with Canada?

  Number of comments: 2
  Yet no crop could grow in the pitch-black surface exposed by the machine working 1,000ft below our helicopter. This is the edge of a fast-expanding open-cast mine in the Canadian tar sands, one of the world’s most polluting sources of oil. It takes only a few minutes to fly across the [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 6:18pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• On affordable housing was Andy Spano right about Westchester County, NY?

  The race matter reached its peak of controversy late last month when Spano, at a League of Women Voters of Westchester debate, said he thought much of the opposition to the housing settlement — what he dubbed as code words like economics, zoning and home rule — were really covers [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 1:53am EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• Senator Burr sides against rape victims

  “SENATOR BURR: You were wrong to side with your campaign contributors from the defense industry and Chamber of Commerce and against your constituents, who overwhelmingly support the Franken Amendment protecting rape victims. Women, families, and workers expect better from you — and our democracy deserves better.” via Change Congress. What’s probably the [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 8:12pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• Mining giant uses divide-and-conquer tactics

  Global mining giant Vale is a highly profitable company.  Its net profits in 2008 were thirteen billion US dollars. Yet it tells the union that deep concessions are now needed, and tried to divide the workers by undermining seniority and providing fewer benefits to new employees. 3,500 Vale employees in Canada responded [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 1:57pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• This is why I laugh at the nativists who are anti-immigration like Lou Dobbs and Pat Buchanan

  Of all the American contenders to try and break the 27-year men’s drought in the New York City Marathon, Meb Keflezighi may have represented the American dream more than any of them. Born in war-torn Eritrea, one of 11 siblings in a village with no electricity, Keflezighi now wears his [...]
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  Posted: November 01, 2009, 3:39pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• PepsiCo learns a $1.26 billion lesson – HA, HA!

  The Wisconsin men said they talked with the distributors in 1981 about their idea to bottle and sell purified water and that PepsiCo later stole the idea by creating Aquafina. via PepsiCo learns a $1.26 billion lesson over misplaced letter | U.S. | Reuters. There is no shame when it comes to [...]
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  Posted: November 01, 2009, 1:06pm EST
  by Jason Gooljar

• BP smacked by OSHA | Chevron, Exxon Mobil and &c. take heed..

  Labor Secretary Hilda Solis announced today the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has levied the largest fine in its history—$87.4 million—against BP for failing to correct safety problems identified after a 2005 explosion that killed 15 workers at its Texas City, Texas, refinery. via AFL-CIO NOW BLOG | BP Hit [...]
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  Posted: October 31, 2009, 7:21pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Has the Bronx changed?

  “I feel great about the change,” said Mr. Muniz, now a salesman at a police goods store. “The neighborhood was hot during the crack era. It was a terrible time. You see it now, the Bronx has changed. I’m amazed at how it looks now.” via Bronx Park South Journal – [...]
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  Posted: October 31, 2009, 5:14pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• The problem with Mr. Coburn

  “My mission is to frame this health care debate in terms of the fiscal ruin of this country,” said the 61-year-old Mr. Coburn, who recently railed on the Senate floor that the federal debt was “waterboarding” his five grandchildren. “I have instructed my staff to clear my schedule for every [...]
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  Posted: October 30, 2009, 10:31am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• San Francisco Hotel Workers Vote to Strike

  A strike has been authorized by San Francisco hotel workers. More than 9000 hotel workers are represented by UNITE-Here local 2. Ninety-two point three percent of those workers voted in favor of strike authorization at 31 upscale hotels. According to the union the hotels are seeking to increase workloads by [...]
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  Posted: October 25, 2009, 10:22pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• White House Public Option: Rumor Check

  A rumor is making the rounds that the White House and Senator Reid are pursuing different strategies on the public option.  Those rumors are absolutely false. In his September 9th address to Congress, President Obama made clear that he supports the public option because it has the potential to play an [...]
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  Posted: October 25, 2009, 10:02pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Bailed out banks hoard art

  Many of the world’s biggest banks — and biggest recipients of government bailouts — have some of the largest collections of art. Some of the works, including abstract pieces and old masters, are hanging in hallways or boardrooms. But much of it is packed away in storage. The art owned [...]
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  Posted: October 25, 2009, 9:53pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• The writing industrial complex?

  Even graduates of bartending schools have some sort of employment on the horizon. But that just goes to show you the sheer genius of the literary-industrial complex. The available jobs after graduation are nothing more than a mirage, and even though everyone knows it, people still fork over millions of [...]
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  Posted: October 25, 2009, 5:54pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Hello stupid lenders: Produce the note!

  One surprising smackdown occurred on Oct. 9 in federal bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York. Ruling that a lender, PHH Mortgage, hadn’t proved its claim to a delinquent borrower’s home in White Plains, Judge Robert D. Drain wiped out a $461,263 mortgage debt on the property. That’s [...]
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  Posted: October 25, 2009, 5:02pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• H1N1: The problem with corporate agri-farming

  The animals never know the feel of grass, mud or sunshine, and hardly the touch of man, in their six months of life. But they are also free of many of the infections that slow the growth and occasionally end the lives of their outdoor cousins. “We’re producing the most efficient [...]
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  Posted: October 25, 2009, 9:52am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• CRUDE: A Joe Berlinger Film

  CRUDE: A Joe Berlinger Film. Today I saw CRUDE and it is everything I thought it would be and everything it needs to be as a film. At the end of the film I was troubled by the fact these people have still not received justice from the legal system in Ecuador as [...]
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  Posted: October 25, 2009, 12:45am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Privacy.net sues Microsoft, Cisco, Comcast and TRUSTe

  The owner of Privacy.net and Network-Tools.com, Russ Smith, has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft, Cisco, Comcast and TRUSTe. The lawsuit claims that Comcast, Microsoft, and Cisco collected information about Smith’s IP addresses and either put them on a “blacklist” or gave them a poor “Reputation Score.”  Comcast even blocked his communication [...]
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  Posted: October 23, 2009, 9:12pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Wal-Mart, Amazon and Target have predatory book pricing

  The American Booksellers Association asked the Justice Department’s antitrust division to investigate “predatory” pricing of books sold by Amazon.com Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. “We ask that the Department of Justice investigate practices by Amazon.com, Walmart and Target that we believe constitute illegal predatory pricing that is damaging to [...]
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  Posted: October 23, 2009, 10:01am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• After eight years the MSHA will actually do something…

  Number of comments: 2
  Today, the U.S. Senate confirmed Joe Main—by unanimous consent—as the new leader of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration MSHA.Main is a longtime advocate for safety and health in the mining industry. He worked 22 years as director of Occupational Health and Safety for the Mine Workers UMWA. That’s [...]
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  Posted: October 22, 2009, 9:10pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• “Michael Moore’s Action Plan: 15 Things Every American Can Do Right Now”

  ——– Forwarded message ———- From: Michael Moore <maillist@michaelmoore.com> Date: Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 6:57 AMSubject: "Michael Moore's Action Plan: 15 Things Every American Can Do Right Now" "Michael Moore's Action Plan: 15 Things Every American Can Do Right Now" You've Seen the Movie — Now It's Time to ACT! Thursday, October 22, 2009 Friends, It's [...]
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  Posted: October 22, 2009, 9:30am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• As if Nestle wasn’t doing enough wrong in the world

  Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, is determined to stop the union representing workers at its Indonesian Nescafé factory from negotiating a collective agreement which includes wages. Nestlé has claimed that wages are a “commercial secret”, harassed union members and leaders, and created a fake union to weaken the IUF’s [...]
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  Posted: October 21, 2009, 5:27pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Heather Graham as the public option

  The public option never looked so good! I have to admit that I also personally have a mini-fascination with Ms. Graham. There’s just something about her [...]
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  Posted: October 21, 2009, 1:52pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• The Modern Consumer Apocalypse

  We can’t, however, only blame the quantity and quality of Chinese goods for the environmental and other consequences of this transoceanic factory-to-waste stream. For that we can blame the two horsemen of the modern consumer apocalypse: functional obsolescence and fashion obsolescence. Functional, or planned obsolescence is the purposeful decision by designers [...]
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  Posted: October 21, 2009, 12:50pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Another one leaves Da Chamber of Commerce

  Mohawk Fine Paper is joining a growing number of companies quitting the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over climate change policies. via Switchboard, from NRDC :: Pete Altman’s Blog :: Another Firm Bails on the US Chamber’s Extreme Climate Stance. Well it’s not Apple but it is still significant. [...]
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  Posted: October 20, 2009, 4:49pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• California Sues State Street Bank for $200 Million

  California’s attorney general, Jerry Brown, said Tuesday that he was suing State Street, the large Boston-based bank, accusing it of committing “unconscionable fraud” against the state’s two largest employee pension funds, Calpers and Calstrs. Mr. Brown said he was seeing to recover more than $200 million in overcharges and penalties. Mr. [...]
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  Posted: October 20, 2009, 2:44pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Congrats to NYC for winning 105 million against Exxon Mobil

  Number of comments: 1
  A federal jury on Monday found Exxon Mobil liable for contaminating groundwater in New York City and awarded the city $104.7 million in compensatory damages. The city had sought $250 million in damages to finance construction of a treatment plant to make the water in five wells in southeastern Queens drinkable. [...]
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  Posted: October 20, 2009, 9:36am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Profits Rise at UnitedHealth Group – Wonder why they’re against healthcare reform?

  UnitedHealth is seen by many analysts as a bellwether for the managed care sector. It is the largest U.S. health insurer by revenue, and the first to report earnings each quarter. For the full year, UnitedHealth said it expects to earn $3.15 per share, at the high end of its previous [...]
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  Posted: October 20, 2009, 9:30am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Woman Sues Toyota For Stupid Marketing Ploy

  Its probably a bad idea to market to consumers by tricking them with practical jokes. Its definitely a bad idea to make a consumer fear for her safety over a five day period because she thinks a stalker is coming after her. Thats why a woman in Los Angeles is [...]
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  Posted: October 20, 2009, 9:17am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Congrats to the Senate Judiciary Committee on S. 369

  On October 15th, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted out S. 369 (here is the bill), the ban on pay-for-delay settlements between brand-name pharmaceutical manufacturers and generic-drug companies.  The purpose and result of these settlements is that the generic drugs come to market later.  This means that patients and insurers must [...]
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  Posted: October 19, 2009, 9:41pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Victims of Foreclosure Check In to Shelters

  Number of comments: 1
  The second night, she stayed with a friend, and so it continued for more than a year: Ms. West — mother of three grown children, grandmother to six and great-grandmother to one — passed months on the couches of friends and relatives, and in the front seat of her car. via [...]
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  Posted: October 19, 2009, 9:21pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Times Says It Will Cut 100 Newsroom Jobs

  The New York Times plans to eliminate 100 newsroom jobs — about 8 percent of the total — by year’s end, offering buyouts to union and non-union employees, and resorting to layoffs if it cannot get enough people to leave voluntarily, the paper announced on Monday via Times Says It Will [...]
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  Posted: October 19, 2009, 9:04pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• The Masters of Disaster (MBA’s)

  A Harvard Business School graduate himself, Broughton said that MBA stood for “Me Before Anyone” and, citing the likes of former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain and former SEC chairman Christopher Cox, said “the Masters of Disaster have their fingerprints on every recent financial fiasco. via MBAs get schooled in ethics [...]
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  Posted: October 19, 2009, 5:19pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Another reason to hate financial corporations

  The $20 million insider-trading ring that the U.S. government alleges was masterminded by billionaire hedge-fund manager Raj Rajaratnam also included two former Bear Stearns hedge-fund managers. According to two federal complaints, two of Rajaratnam’s partners in the alleged crimes were Mark Kurland, of Mount Kisco, N.Y., and Danielle Chiesi of [...]
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  Posted: October 19, 2009, 5:01pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Eric Wohlschlegel of the un-American Chamber of Commerce got punked

  It was about that time, the real Chamber spokesman burst into the room – and had a mild shoving match at the podium. “What happened today was a fraud and I believe illegal,” Eric Wohlschlegel said. The spokesman said he learned of the hoax when a reporter came to the [...]
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  Posted: October 19, 2009, 4:43pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Ted Turner needs a reality check

  “To drop out of that league, that was hard to do,” Turner said. “I’ve had the experience of being on top and riding the roller coaster down again, nearly to the bottom. You know, if you economize and don’t buy new airplanes or long-range jets, or that sort of thing, [...]
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  Posted: October 19, 2009, 1:52pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Holy crap Boeing!

  Other misconduct by Boeing, according to POGO, includes “unauthorized possession of defense information,” gender discrimination, violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, the False Claims Act and anti-trust laws, water pollution in California, contaminating thousands of homes in Colorado with radioactive waste from the Department of Energy’s Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons [...]
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  Posted: October 19, 2009, 1:28pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Too bad the United States does not care about climate change

  The British leader plans to attend the Copenhagen summit, intended to cap two years of negotiations on a global climate change treaty, and has called on fellow leaders to join him. So far, few have said they will go. Britain’s Brown Warns of Climate Catastrophe – NYTimes.com It’s a shame that the [...]
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  Posted: October 19, 2009, 11:13am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• I’m glad to see IHOP and Applebee’s owner being pressured on source of eggs

  DineEquity Inc., the parent company of restaurant chains IHOP and Applebee’s, is the target of animal-rights-activist attacks, following the release of a video by the Humane Society of the United States that describes inhumane conditions at Michael Foods, an IHOP egg supplier in Minnesota. The video shows graphic footage of [...]
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  Posted: October 19, 2009, 9:16am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Consumerism as retail therapy?

  “I don’t need anything. I don’t need a bag,” Kwawu said, and sighed. She barely looked at the pricey but practical gray sweater coat she was supposed to be buying, already wrapped in an elaborate origami of tissue at her elbow. She only had eyes for the $695 green-and-black handbag [...]
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  Posted: October 19, 2009, 7:38am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Hospitals should not be naming wings after corporations like Abercrombie and Fitch

  “It is troubling that a children’s hospital would name its emergency room after a company that routinely relies on highly sexualized marketing to target teens and preteens,” the members of the coalition wrote in a letter that was sent on Tuesday to the hospital’s office in Columbus, Ohio.“The Abercrombie & [...]
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  Posted: October 18, 2009, 9:36pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• What the hell are they doing in Puerto Rico?

  Using recently passed legislation known as Public Law 7, Fortuño plans to lay off as many as 30,000 public employees and deny collective bargaining to the remainder of the island’s public workers. The U.S. commonwealth, where unemployment is already at 15 percent, is set to receive $6 billion in federal [...]
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  Posted: October 18, 2009, 9:17pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Capital One now redlining?

  I was denied several months ago for a Capital One business card. I needed this extra credit desperately for my small business. One of the reasons given was that credit could not be approved because of “worsening economic conditions in my area”. This is outrageous. It may even constitute redlining, [...]
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  Posted: October 18, 2009, 11:24am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• FDA to review Lasik surgery

  Number of comments: 2
  Government is good. I’m happy to see the FDA looking into things like this. Spurred by complaints of adverse events, the Food and Drug Administration announced yesterday that they would launch a multi-year study to examine the potential impact on quality of life from Lasik laser-vision correction surgery. Lasik surgery [...]
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  Posted: October 16, 2009, 8:28pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Why does Uzbekistan like child labor?

  What is it about child labor that they like it so much? Today ILRF joined a number of other organizations outside the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Washington, DC to demonstrate their disgust with the Uzbek government’s use of forced and child labor in the annual cotton harvest. [...]
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  Posted: October 16, 2009, 8:13pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Booz Allen Hamilton: A beltway bandit?

  Granted they are not the only contractors/consultants in the world that are getting rich off of US taxpayers, but it still raises eyebrows. The most interesting of these is the huge consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton, which since fiscal year 2000 has been the recipient of more than $16 billion [...]
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  Posted: October 16, 2009, 11:45am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Bananas! What Dole doesn’t want known

  As Swedes started taunting Dole Foods with complaints that it is trying to limit free speech, the food manufacturer backed off from a defamation lawsuit it had filed against a Swedish filmmaker, whose documentary film “Bananas!” shows the plight of Nicaraguan workers who say they were made sterile by a [...]
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  Posted: October 16, 2009, 10:03am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Screw Goldman Sachs

  Given its strong performance this year, Goldman Sachs is sure to pay staffers “dramatically” higher bonuses in 2009, said Goldman CFO David Viniar, although final decisions won’t be made until year’s end. If that’s the case, the bank will be bracing for another round of public outrage since the “recovery” [...]
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  Posted: October 16, 2009, 9:53am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Monster Energy, Continental Enterprises and the Hansen Beverage Company - Today’s worst corporations in the woooorld!

  When you’re working on developing a reputation as a trademark bully, it’s good to go after multiple targets. We guess that’s why the website BevReview.com has received notice that it should remove any advertisement and sale of Monster Energy drinks from its site. The only problem is, it doesn’t advertise [...]
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  Posted: October 16, 2009, 9:37am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• The best case made for a living wage I’ve ever heard..

  Someone just commented on this video I posted on Youtube back in 2006. I just watched it again and realized that besides the fun part of the Nassau County Executive singing a calypso song. There was an excellent summation made for why a living wage is needed everywhere. The County [...]
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  Posted: October 14, 2009, 8:02pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Another example of special-interest influence

  From: Lawrence Lessig, Change Congress <change-congress@mail.democracyinaction.com> Date: Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 5:27 PMSubject: Another example of special-interest influence Jason, The past couple weeks, as the national health care debate has raged on, people have been coming to Change-Congress.org in droves to join our fight for fundamental campaign finance reform. Moments ago, [...]
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  Posted: October 14, 2009, 9:35am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Why aren’t young people without health insurance teabagging?!

  I was reading this post on the AFL-CIO blog about all the young people under the age of 35 without health insurance. They are working mind you, but they are not insured. A couple of years ago I would have counted myself as one of them. As the AFL-CIO report, [...]
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  Posted: October 13, 2009, 10:28am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• I did not realize that Chiquita supported the coup in Honduras

  I’ve heard of this corporation in the past paying terrorists to attack workers and etc., but I had no idea that they were supporters of the recent coup in Honduras. This is clearly not a good company nor are the executives who work for them good people. In response to [...]
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  Posted: October 12, 2009, 11:31am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• What it’s like to be a labor activist in other countries

  You know we often hear how weak unions are. We hear from the CNBC crowd that nobody wants to be in a union anymore. If that were the case then why is there such violence and vitriol directed towards organized labor all over the world? One would think that if [...]
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  Posted: October 12, 2009, 9:31am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Not all is right in Rhee Land

  The protesting has begun. Thousands of students, parents, teachers and community members from across Washington, D.C., converged on the district’s Freedom Plaza yesterday afternoon to rally in support of hundreds of laid-off teachers.Nearly 400 school employees have been laid off as a result of controversial decisions by D.C. school chancellor Michelle [...]
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  Posted: October 12, 2009, 9:22am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Best jobs in America

    I found this list rather interesting. All of the top ten jobs require a good degree of higher education except for possibly a sales director (FYI – I hate sales). So how are we doing at the education part America? I’d say we are not making college affordable enough for [...]
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  Posted: October 11, 2009, 8:27pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• I understand why TWU Local 100 just isn’t that into Bloomberg

  Who can forget the way Bloomberg and Pataki acted in 2005? Transport Workers Union Local 100 is making an unusual foray into electoral politics with its bare-knuckle campaign against incumbent New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Historically, Local 100 hasn’t invested heavily in this kind of electoral activism. The threat of [...]
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  Posted: October 09, 2009, 10:17am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Beyond Petroleum and their audacity

  I’m happy to see the Weekly Toll keeping this issue in the spotlight. BP keeps asking for more time even though these accidents happened five years ago. Think about how the families of Raymundo C. Gonzalez, Jr. and Leonard Maurice Moore, Jr., who were killed back in 2004, must feel about [...]
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  Posted: October 09, 2009, 10:10am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• IBM accused of monopolistic things…

  Everyone loves the word “free-market” but in the end it is never about that at all. IBM has been accused of stifling competitors by withholding patent licenses and certain intellectual property to maintain a monopoly of the mainframe market. The company is also accused of tying the sale of its operating [...]
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  Posted: October 09, 2009, 10:04am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• The Asia Floor Wage Campaign

  I think that this is the route that organized labor has to go. Delhi, India— On October 7th, the ITUC-declared World Day of Decent Work, Asian workers’ organizations and representatives along with allies in the US, UK and throughout Europe are coming together to demand a Minimum Living Wage called [...]
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  Posted: October 09, 2009, 10:01am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• New York City developers take heed!

  For your own sake and for the sake of that city I implore you to take this information to heart. New York City’s neighborhoods are pockmarked with stalled residential developments. But the pause in construction will most likely be a temporary one. People are still moving to New York–despite the [...]
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  Posted: October 09, 2009, 9:47am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• The evil of uranium mining

  I could not let this story pass by without highlighting it. “I have had three miscarriages and lost five children within a week of their births,” says Hira Hansda, a miner’s wife. “Even after 20 years of marriage we have no children today.” Now in her late forties, she sits [...]
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  Posted: October 09, 2009, 9:41am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Senate stands up to mandatory binding arbitration

  This was such hogwash. Yesterday, the Senate adopted an amendment that will prevent federal funding from going to any contractor that requires its employees to use mandatory binding arbitration, instead of court, for sexual assault and civil rights claims against the company. The amendment was in response to the case [...]
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  Posted: October 07, 2009, 10:24pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• The UBS Switzerland accounts begin to bear fruit

  I’m just loving this. A retired sales manager for Boeing pleaded guilty on Monday to hiding nearly $2 million in UBS accounts in Switzerland, as the United States pursues Americans illegally stashing funds abroad to avoid taxes. Roberto Cittadini was accused of filing a false tax return omitting that he [...]
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  Posted: October 07, 2009, 10:19pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• AIG’s new leader is a jerk

  AIG was bailed out by the American people but this fellow feels he can still put on a show. According to numerous news reports, Benmosche has done everything from requesting corporate jets for personal use to saying he was prepared to tell Congress to "stick it where the sun don’t shine." [...]
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  Posted: October 07, 2009, 7:20pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Labor utilizing flash mobs

  I think this is a great idea. The flash mob entered the shopping center and proceeded to load up shopping carts with an assortment of goods before simply leaving them standing in store aisles. Instead of paying for the goods, the flash mob passed over cards with slogans like "Fair [...]
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  Posted: October 07, 2009, 7:15pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Want to buy a gun? With no background check? Go to a gun show!

    Step right up! If you’re a criminal or just plain deranged and you want to get a gun without having to endure those “liberal” background checks go to a gun show! They’ll sell you just about anything you want. But all joking aside this has been going on for a [...]
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  Posted: October 07, 2009, 5:00pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• To hell with Wells Fargo

  They got bailed out so they could lobby against the American people. Homeowner Belva Davis of Detroit’s East English Village fell behind on her mortgage while unemployed. She has a new job and wants to pay the mortgage, but Wells Fargo refuses to modify the loan. Last year, bailout bandit Wells [...]
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  Posted: October 07, 2009, 2:17pm EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Veteran teachers beef with Michelle Rhee

  Michelle Rhee has been getting a lot of accolades and press attention over the past few months to a year now. While most of it is most likely warranted, that doesn’t mean that some of her undertakings cannot be constructively scrutinized. Here is the case being made by veteran teachers [...]
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  Posted: October 07, 2009, 10:20am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Awww the poor lobbyists

  Let us all cry for the lobbyists who will now have some of their power reduced in government. Lobbyists are worthless people. Sure there are some who lobby for good causes but they are few and far between. This decision has been confirmed by the official White House blog which [...]
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  Posted: October 07, 2009, 10:01am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Why is a Goldman Sachs owned mining corporation getting a 3 million dollar bailout?

  This makes no sense at all. A mining company owned by Goldman Sachs and two private equity funds is in line to get a $3 million earmark for work at a rare earth elements mine in Mountain Pass, Calif. — raising questions as to why Congress would take on some of [...]
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  Posted: October 07, 2009, 9:47am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• Cadbury and the greedy Easter bunny

  I must say I find this situation absolutely interesting. Here you have this greedy and filthy board of directors over at Cadbury totally thumbing their noses at shareholders so that they can continue to get their largesse. A new lawsuit filed by a shareholder of chocolatier Cadbury stands as a [...]
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  Posted: October 07, 2009, 9:41am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar

• You too can own a FEMA trailer!

  Did you miss out on Hurricane Katrina in 2005? Do you wish you were there for all the action? Well boys and girls turn those frowns upside down! Looking to own a piece of history — or just want someplace to put those pesky in-laws when they show up unexpectedly? [...]
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  Posted: October 07, 2009, 9:30am EDT
  by Jason Gooljar