Will Gadhafi ever give up?
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 03:05 am PST
The Week - Libya's notorious strongman says he'll die before giving in to pro-democracy protesters. Is there any chance he'll leave? Full Story | Top |
Are public employees overpaid?
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 02:34 am PST
The Week - Wisconsin conservatives say public employees are breaking the bank with their bloated compensation. No, counter liberals: If anything, these staffers are underpaid Full Story | Top |
How Long Will Rahm's Chicago Honeymoon Last?
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 06:55 am PST
The Atlantic Wire - Rahm Emanuel was elected mayor of Chicago Tuesday night, winning an 55 percent of the vote. The election of the short, foulmouthed, nine-fingered ex-ballerina marks the end of the Daley era--Richard J. or Richard M. ran the city for 42 of the last 55 years. Full Story | Top |
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Says He Wasn't Trying to 'Trick' Democrats
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 02:28 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's defended his statements to a man posing as billionaire Republic donor David Koch in a prank phone call--reported earlier today--by explaining, "I talk phone calls all the time. I took phone calls with small business owners earlier." Walker also dismissed the idea, gleaned from his comments to the imposter, that he was trying to trick Democratic lawmakers into coming back to the state so Republicans could pass his controversial plan to limit public sector unions' power to bargain. Full Story | Top |
Libyan Pilots Defect Midair
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 02:19 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - Two Libyan air force pilots parachuted from their fighter jet on Wednesday, letting the plane crash into an uninhabited area, in defiance of orders to attack Benghazi, according to the Libyan newspaper Quryna. CNN is reporting that the pilots were on a mission to bomb oil fields southwest of Libya's second city. Benghazi and most of eastern Libya are now controlled by groups that oppose Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi. Full Story | Top |
Is the Government Shutting Down in Nine Days?
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 01:05 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - The White House and Congress have, oh, nine days (or nine days, eight hours, and counting if you follow National Journal's ominous Shutdown Timer) to agree on how to cut federal spending for the fiscal year ending in September. If they don't reach a consensus by March 4, the government will run out of money for non-essential operations and partially shut down, potentially sidelining hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors, disrupting certain government services, and, coming as it would during tax filing season, delaying tax refunds. Republicans who campaigned on smaller government in November helped shuttle a bill lowering spending by $61 billion through the GOP-controlled House, but the legislation faces fierce opposition in the Democratic-led Senate. Full Story | Top |
Is Zimbabwe Sending Commandos to Kill Libyan Protesters?
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 12:01 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe might be flying commandos to Libya to crack down on protesters there, the Zimbabwe Mail reports. In Harare, the unverified reports circulating among military and intelligence workers is that a Russian aircraft flew troops out of the city early Tuesday morning. The Economist also says Zimbabweans--along with troops from Chad and Guinea--are the mercenaries shooting from helicopters at people demanding Muammar Qaddafi step down. Full Story | Top |
Is Apple Evil?
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 11:26 am PST
The Atlantic Wire - For years now, the slick design and intuitive interface of Apple's popular products have endeared the company to gadget geeks the world over. But increasingly, customers are becoming guilt-ridden, as allegations of human rights abuses at Apple's Chinese suppliers continue to surface. Should Apple fans be concerned? That's what Wired magazine aimed to find out in its March cover story "Gadget Guilt." The issue, which is arriving on subscribers' doorsteps this week, comes as The New York Times brings its own skeptical take on Apple's labor policies in China. Both articles give a fairly even-handed assessment of Apple's behavior. Here's a breakdown of the bad stuff and the defensible stuff:The Bad StuffApple's largest Chinese supplier, Foxconn Technologies, has had 17 suicides in the last five years. The company has even installed nets to prevent workers from jumping off the buildingHuman rights groups have complained of "sweatshop conditions" and "forced overtime" at Foxconn. One Hong Kong-based group accused Foxconn's Shenzhen plant of making workers toil for 13 days straight for 12 hours a day to work on the first generation iPad. "When one jumper left a note explaining that he committed suicide to provide for his family, the program of remuneration for the families of jumpers was cancelled."At Wintek, a Taiwanese-owned company in China, workers have complained of "sore limbs," "extreme weakness," dizzy spells, headaches and being unable to button their own shirts. Doctors later discovered that the workers were exposed to n-hexane, a toxic agent used to clean the glass on Apple's iPhones. Some workers were hospitalized and diagnosed with nerve damage. The Mitigating Information17 suicides isn't actually that bad for 1 million workers. By comparison, the suicide rate for American college students is four times that. Looking at it another way, Foxconn's suicide rate is also below China's national average. Foxconn has onsite counseling facilities with psychologists and counselors. It also has a care center that provides music therapy and private counseling. Foxconn employees work for 10 hours a day, with two 10-minute breaks and an hour for lunchAfter visiting Foxconn, Wired's Joe Johnson says it's more like a college campus than communist slave mill. He describes dorms and cafeterias and says it's not much worse than other types of manufacturing work. "It seems incredibly boring--like factory work anywhere in the developed world." As for the toxic agent, n-hexane, Apple says it's no longer being used at Wintek and the company has repaired its ventilation system. So what do you think? Should Americans still have "gadget guilt"? Full Story | Top |
The U.S. Has More Hate Groups Than Ever Before
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 10:56 am PST
The Atlantic Wire - According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, there are now over 1,000 hate groups active in the United States, more than ever before. The center focuses the growth of several radical, hate-fueled movements over the past few years in the Spring 2011 issue of its journal Intelligence Report--complete with a Hate Map that points out where exactly in the country such groups are most prevalent. Full Story | Top |
Is Obama being too soft on Gadhafi?
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 10:17 am PST
The Week - President Obama is facing pressure to offer more help to the Libyan protesters under attack from Moammar Gadhafi's forces. Is the president abdicating his responsibility? Full Story | Top |
Is Media Coverage of Health Care Rulings Biased?
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 10:08 am PST
The Atlantic Wire - Earlier in February, The Washington Monthly's Steve Benen argued that while court decisions on health care reform were roughly equal--two federal judges had struck down the requirement in President Obama's health care law that most Americans obtain health insurance and two had upheld the provision's constitutionality--you might not realize that from reading the news. "It seems," he said, "as if the media largely ignored court rulings that bolstered the arguments of health care reform proponents, while making a very big deal about rulings celebrated by conservatives." Full Story | Top |
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Reveals His Secret Standoff Strategy in Prank Call
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 09:32 am PST
The Atlantic Wire - Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker had a candid 20-minute conversation with billionaire Republican donor David Koch, or so he thought. In reality, the caller was Buffalo Beast reporter Ian Murphy, who recorded the call and posted it online. Walker is battling Democratic state legislators over his plan to curtail the power of state government workers' unions; thousands are protesting in the capital. The call reveals him to be at turns sympathetic and a jerk. Full Story | Top |
Justice Department to Stop Prosecuting DOMA Cases
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 09:31 am PST
The Atlantic Wire - The Obama administration has told the Justice Department to stop prosecuting cases related to the Defense of Marriage Act, which says that states don't have to recognize the gay marriages performed by other states and that the federal definition of marriage is between a man and a woman, National Journal's Marc Ambinder reports. President Obama thinks the law is unconstitutional. Full Story | Top |
DC's Dirty Tricks, Revealed in Memo for the Chamber of Commerce
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 09:28 am PST
The Atlantic Wire - Let's say you're the Chamber of Commerce. Let's say a watchdog group called U.S. Chamber Watch is bothering you, filing legal complaints and asking pesky questions about your relationships with corporate entities and conservative interest groups. What do you do? Do you reach out to a trio of information companies and discuss shady tactics you could use to delegitimize your critics? To "discredit, confuse, shame, combat, infiltrate, [and] fracture" them? Full Story | Top |
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