News Stories

[ganbaru]

Israel's Barak, architect of Iran policy, quitting politics
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8AP08E20121126
A good or a bad thing?

[bladeofdarkness]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Israel's Barak, architect of Iran policy, quitting politics
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8AP08E20121126
A good or a bad thing?

a bullshit political move that has no effect on anything.
he'll be back soon enough.

[SeijiSensei]

Hopes of Returning Home Fade as Decontamination Efforts Prove Difficult

A growing number of evacuees from Okuma have become pessimistic about ever living there again. At a temporary housing complex here in Aizu-Wakamatsu, a city 60 miles west of the plant, the mostly elderly residents say they do not have that much time or energy left to rebuild their town.

Nearly everyone in this story is well over 60, and most are in their 70s and 80s. It sounds like the younger residents have simply moved on and are not so attached to returning home as these older people.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Chinese bus drivers in S'pore stage rare protest

Singapore (Nov 26, Mon): At least 100 Chinese bus drivers here refused to go to work today to protest against changes to their employment terms, local media said, in a rare show of defiance in a city-state where industrial action is almost unheard of.

The drivers, employed by public transport operator SMRT Corp , were unhappy about having to switch to a six-day work-week with higher pay from a five-day week. The change meant less opportunity to earn overtime pay, the Chinese-language Lianhe Zaobao newspaper reported on its website.

Pictures published by Shin Min Daily News, another Chinese-language paper, showed drivers gathered on the grounds of a dormitory where they live, with policemen and vehicles belonging to riot police around the premises.

Strikes are rare in Singapore where the authorities are quick to step in for fear such action could discourage investors. The last major strike was in 1986 by shipyard workers.

REUTERS

Bus drivers' action was 'illegal strike', says Govt

Singapore (Nov 27, Tue): The SMRT bus drivers' action yesterday was an illegal strike and will be dealt with, says Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin. Police are investigating.

Mr Tan was speaking at an ongoing Ministry of Manpower press conference on the SMRT saga. Also present were Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo and senior officials from the manpower and transport ministries.

The National Trades Union Congress said it supports the action taken by the Government. "It is important to send a clear signal to all workers that, as a nation ruled by law, there are proper ways of dealing with issues and disagreement," it added in a statement.

"Any action that is illegal must and will be dealt with firmly, regardless of whether the workers are local or foreign. We have a system in place to deal with workplace issues and grievances, one that has been painstakingly built over the years and has served us well. This must continue."

A total of 102 China-born drivers refused to go to work yesterday, saying they wanted better salaries. They said they are paid less than Malaysian drivers.

THE STRAITS TIMES

No-show by bus drivers a strike or protest?

Singapore (Nov 27, Tue): A total of 102 SMRT bus drivers, all China nationals, refused to turn up for work yesterday over a pay dispute, and this morning, over half of those involved did not show up for work again.

There has been a lot of talk about why the media and even the Manpower Ministry and SMRT have not been calling the wage protest a strike. Instead, terms like "sit-in", "sit-out", "protest", "did not show up for work" were used.

There are several reasons for this and they have to do with the law. As this has to do with an essential service — in this case, public transport — the law is very specific on what is considered a strike.

Under the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act, it is a strike only when a worker gives his employer at least 14 days' advance notice of his intention to do so. This notice has to be signed by at least seven fellow workers involved in the strike or by at least seven union representatives of the workers.

The notice then needs to be acknowledged and signed by the employer, after which that notice needs to be put up in at least three conspicuous places where the workers are employed.

That's a legal strike, if rules are followed. Anything else, it's an illegal strike and there are consequences. A person involved in that could be fined up to S$2,000 (US$1,630) and jailed up to 12 months. A person who instigates or finances an illegal strike also faces the same penalties.

CHANNELNEWSASIA

Yup, you need a government permit — and your employer's cooperation — to legally go on strike in Singapore. Go figure.

[ganbaru]

Anger as Hungary far-right leader demands lists of Jews
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8AQ0L920121127

A Hungarian far-right politician urged the government to draw up lists of Jews who pose a "national security risk", stirring outrage among Jewish leaders who saw echoes of fascist policies that led to the Holocaust.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Yup, you need a government permit — and your employer's cooperation — to legally go on strike in Singapore. Go figure.

Little would they realise those "permits" and "legal wording" would prove useless to people who view "legalities" as a way for the government to exploit them - they are from China where government officials systematically exploit them every day. It is going to be like the 1900s all over again - Pickering is clawing on his coffin already.

I am surprised that they deployed 4 vans of the Special Operations Command - those polyurethane shields would be useless against a napalm-molotov, much less a water cannon or a fertiliser-petrol IED.

Besides, it shouldn't even be counted as a strike. SMRT hires more than 5,000 employees with a bulk of them as service-leaders/staff, and if I remember correctly they planned to increase their hires by 10% in July/August. What is 102 out of 5,000? It hardly counts as a mass of workers who refuse to work; plus there is no picketing, etc. This incident being branded as a "strike" certainly makes the 1955 Hock Lee Bus Strike look like a full-scale war.

[SeijiSensei]

The National Trades Union Congress said it supports the action taken by the Government.

And here I thought the AFL-CIO were a bunch of wusses!

[RRW]

A sickly, obese Bronx woman was left stranded in Hungary then died from kidney failure after airline officials booted her from three New York-bound flights because she was too fat, her husband says.

“All we wanted was to come back home to get her treatment,” said a grieving Janos Soltesz, a Staten Island Ferry security guard whose 56-year-old wife, Vilma, died in Hungary nine days after she was kicked off the first of three jets.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/a...w0EZLnvYr9XQmM

[mangamuscle]

Originally Posted by RRW

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/a...w0EZLnvYr9XQmM

She was very ill and did not trust that the hospitals in former communist Hungary could attend to her needs

Refusing medical assistance no doubt killed her and now the husband wants to get rich from such lack of common sense -_-

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by ogon_bat

Refusing medical assistance no doubt killed her and now the husband wants to get rich from such lack of common sense -_-

The Airline are still partially at fault here. The knew her condition when they flew her to Hungry. Then refusing to fly her back well...they deserve a lawsuit.

[mangamuscle]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

The knew her condition when they flew her to Hungry.

was that a projection of your innermost thoughts?

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by ogon_bat

was that a projection of your innermost thoughts?

my state of being

[ganbaru]

Jeb Bush, with cash and clout, pushes contentious school reforms
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8AQ07I20121127

And some of the policies Bush now pushes, such as vouchers and mandatory online classes, have no clear links to the test-score bump in Florida. Bush has been particularly vigorous about promoting online education, urging states to adopt policies written with input from companies that stand to profit from expanded cyber-schooling.
Many of those companies also donate to Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education, which has raised $19 million in recent years to promote his agenda nationwide.
Sherman Dorn, a professor of education at the University of South Florida, says some of Bush's policies as governor, such as an intense focus on teaching reading, made a real difference to Florida students. "It's pretty clear Governor Bush should get credit for giving a damn," he said. But by teaming with for-profit corporations to push cyber-schools, which have produced dismally low test scores in many states, Bush is "throwing away whatever credibility he had coming out of Florida," Dorn said.

[Vexx]

Seriously, this "education push" by the Bush's has been going on since 2000 and its really all about pushing education funding into the hands of a few buddies in the "for profit education industry". That's it. That's the underlying motive -- more looting the treasury bullshit.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by Vexx

That's it. That's the underlying motive -- more looting the treasury bullshit.

After all ''war for profit'' did work, if by work one would mean make profits for somes.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

After all ''war for profit'' did work, if by work one would mean make profits for somes.

"Privatizing the government" has been 'job one' of Bush+GOP since 2000. And by privatizing, I mean transferring wealth from the tax coffers to buddies of the Bush family and their cohorts. Every agency and government service has been damaged from it. That's why I said back in 2008 that it would take 8-16 years to fix the 2000-2008 raid on the US citizenry.

They would outsource vast sums of money to private hands and then destroy or corrupt the ability to conduct oversight and accountability. Half the problems of the FDA and the Agriculture department stem from that.

[Ithekro]

We are still four years or so from the recoverly I guessed would come after the fall in 2000. I figured it take four presidental election cycles to fix. Though it might take four Presidents to fix at the rate things are going now.

[mangamuscle]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

We are still four years or so from the recoverly I guessed would come after the fall in 2000. I figured it take four presidental election cycles to fix. Though it might take four Presidents to fix at the rate things are going now.

Mhh, still hasn't dawned to the mainstream that the 21st century generation will do worse in economical terms than previous USA generations.

[sa547]

Originally Posted by Vexx

"Privatizing the government" has been 'job one' of Bush+GOP since 2000. And by privatizing, I mean transferring wealth from the tax coffers to buddies of the Bush family and their cohorts. Every agency and government service has been damaged from it. That's why I said back in 2008 that it would take 8-16 years to fix the 2000-2008 raid on the US citizenry.

They would outsource vast sums of money to private hands and then destroy or corrupt the ability to conduct oversight and accountability. Half the problems of the FDA and the Agriculture department stem from that.

Speaking of privatization, there were some plans to convert public hospitals into private ownership, but that was met with hostile opposition, especially as we have a population that's below the poverty line and can't afford much; if it were to be implemented, that would be tantamount to betrayal of public trust.

[Xellos-_^]

business are starting to put a Clawback option into contracts. I think the public needs one as well.