via David Strreitfeld and Nicole Perlroth, The New York Times Facebook may have quelled a full-scale rebellion by quickly dumping the contentious new terms of use for Instagram, its photo-sharing service. But even as the social network furiously backpedaled, some users said Friday they were carrying through on plans to leave. Ryan Cox, a 29-year-old … Continue reading
via Beau Hodai, Alternet In Arizona an unsettling trend appears to be underway: the use of private prison employees in law enforcement operations. The state has graced national headlines in recent years as the result of its cozy relationship with the for-profit prison industry. Such controversies have included the role of private prison corporations in … Continue reading
via Todd Wasserman, Mashable The next time you shop, take a close look at the mannequins in the store. They may be taking a close look at you, too. So far, Benetton is one of the few places you’ll see $5,000 bionic mannequins from Italy’s Almax. The dummies, called EyeSee, has a camera installed with … Continue reading
via Doug Staglin, USA Today Scattered strikes and protests by Walmart workers and their supporters in at least nine states may have scored symbolic points Friday by taking on the retail giant head-on, but apparently they did little to keep shoppers away as the company quickly claimed its best Black Friday ever. The company said … Continue reading
via David Talbot, MIT Technology Review, Mashable Google’s effort to install a blazingly fast, gigabit-per-second fiber Internet service in the two-state metropolis of Kansas City — a speed 100 times faster than the national average — is a radical new business direction for the company, and perhaps provides an unorthodox model for how to rewire … Continue reading
via Jennifer Booton, Fox Business Typically one of the busiest shopping days of the year for retailers, Wal-Mart may need to brace itself this Black Friday as its workers plan a massive walk-out in protest of low wages and high health-care costs. The world’s largest retailer, though, says it is prepared. Workers that are part of … Continue reading
via Erin Fuchs, Business Insider A whopping 75 percent of Montana’s voters approved an initiative Tuesday stating corporations are not people. Montana voters specifically said “corporations are not entitled to constitutional rights because they are not human beings,” Courthouse News Service reported. The measure was a stinging rebuke to the U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision … Continue reading
via Shay O’Reilly, Campus Progress “Community, NOT commodity!” chanted an “OccuPride” contingent that interrupted—then joined—San Francisco’s Pride march this summer. Along with similar groups in Chicago and New York, the San Francisco group carried signs denouncing corporate sponsorship of Pride parades and events. Even as parade marshals shooed them away from the float of Pride … Continue reading
via Chicago Sun-Times Media mogul Rupert Murdoch may be looking to buy the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times as the parent company for the two newspapers attempts to exit from bankruptcy, according to a report. Executives from Murdoch’s News Corp. are in “preliminary talks” with Tribune Co.’s debt holders, who are expected to … Continue reading
via Tom Philpott, Mother Jones You’d be forgiven for not noticing—unless you live in California, where you’ve likely been bombarded by geotargeted web ads and TV spots—but this election could spur a revolution in the way our food is made. Proposition 37, a popular Golden State ballot initiative, would require the labeling of food containing … Continue reading
via Harry Bradford, Alice Hines, and Christina Wilkie, The Huffington Post Employees at 28 Walmarts in 12 different cities walked out of work Tuesday, but things may get a whole lot worse for the U.S.’s biggest retailer come Black Friday. United Food and Commercial Workers’ Making Change At Walmart, the group behind the strikes protesting … Continue reading
via Alice Hines, The Huffington Post The first retail worker strike against Walmart has spread from Los Angeles, where it began last week, to stores in a dozen cities, a union official said Tuesday. Walmart workers walked off the job in Dallas, Seattle, the San Francisco Bay area, Miami, the Washington, D.C., area, Los Angeles, … Continue reading
via Steve Friess, Politico Microsoft has enjoyed months of great press for its promise to make Do Not Track the default setting on its forthcoming iteration of Internet Explorer, but it has left out one important detail: Users will still be tracked. That also goes for users of Chrome, whose parent Google announced last week … Continue reading
via Michael Felberbaum, ABC News A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a decision barring the federal government from requiring tobacco companies to put large graphic health warnings on cigarette packages to show that smoking can disfigure and even kill people. In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington affirmed a lower … Continue reading
via Anthony Gucciardi, Nation of Change Monsanto is doing its absolute best to ensure that you do not know what you are putting into your mouth, now confirmed to have donated $4.2 million in an attempt to fight the California GMO labeling initiative that could very well put them out of business. You see, if … Continue reading
via L.A. Times Blog, L.A. Now As part of the event, gay marriage advocates were encouraging same-sex couples to go to one of the chicken restaurants and take a photo or video of themselves kissing. Huge crowds turned out Wednesday in a show of support for company President Dan Cathy, who ignited a national debate … Continue reading
via Lauren Petrecca, USA Today The heated debate over Chick-fil-A and same-sex marriage is about to get a touch softer with a kiss-in protest scheduled for Friday. Gay rights organizations and other advocacy groups are promoting a “National Same-Sex Kiss Day,” where people are encouraged to head to a Chick-fil-A and lock lips with a … Continue reading
via David Beasley, Reuters Thousands of people across the United States heeded the call of two former Republican U.S. presidential candidates to eat at Chick-fil-A on Wednesday to show support for the chain restaurant as it weathers criticism for its president’s public opposition to gay marriage. Business was so brisk at some of the privately … Continue reading
via The Huffington Post Chick-fil-A’s anti-gay marriage stance has gotten some high-profile support by way of Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Sarah Palin and other conservative lawmakers. But among their longtime customers, it’s a much different story. Polling organization YouGov found that the Atlanta-based chain’s brand approval ratings have plummeted in the wake of Chick-fil-A President … Continue reading
via Lauren Kelly, Alternet, Salon [Editress’ Note: You can only vote for politicians once every few years. You can vote with your wallet every single day. Make change happen.] — 1. Chick-fil-A It won’t be news to many readers that Chick-fil-A’s owner is deeply entrenched in conservative politics and social issues. The chain has … Continue reading
via The Huffington Post A Chicago alderman announced this week that he plans to block Chick-fil-A’s plans to open a new restaurant in the district he represents following recent anti-gay marriage remarks made by the chain’s president. “If you are discriminating against a segment of the community, I don’t want you in the 1st Ward,” … Continue reading
via Piya Sinha-Roy, Reuters The Muppets are ending their relationship with fast food restaurant chain Chick-Fil-A in a show of support for gay marriage, the creators of the puppet troupe said last week. “The Jim Henson Company has celebrated and embraced diversity and inclusiveness for over fifty years and we have notified Chick-Fil-A that we … Continue reading
via AP, The Huffington Post The mayor of Boston is vowing to block Chick-fil-A from opening a restaurant in the city after the company’s president spoke out publicly against gay marriage. Mayor Thomas Menino told the Boston Herald on Thursday that he doesn’t want a business in the city “that discriminates against a population.” Chick-fil-A … Continue reading
via Louis Peitzman, Gawker “Retroactively” is a word that might haunt Mitt Romney for some time. The Republican nominee has been railing against President Obama’s campaign ads, calling Obama’s assertion that Romney lied about his time at Bain Capital “false and deceptive and dishonest.” The ads, however, are based on the Boston Globe’s findings that … Continue reading
via Deborah Netburn, L.A. Times Google doesn’t often get political, but on the issue of rights for gay people, the company is unequivocal: “LGBT Rights Are Human Rights” it proclaims on a Web page describing its new project Legalise Love–an international campaign to promote safer conditions for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people inside and outside the … Continue reading