KWBaker

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Probably no genre illustrates the rapid advance of cinematic screen freedoms than the biker movie. The genre debuted in 1953 with Marlon Brando in "The Wild One". The film, which chronicled the virtual takeover of a small California town by a wild motorcycle gang, was considered extremely controversial at the time. The biker film remained largely dormant until the release of Roger Corman's "The Wild Angels" in 1966, which became a surprising boxoffice and media sensation. Only a year or two before, teenage audiences were being fed a steady diet of white bread rock 'n roll films that bore little resemblance to real life. Suddenly, the biker film blatantly presented raging hormones, gang wars, drug use and group sex without apology. Young people patronized these films in droves. With social constraints falling by the minute, the biker films- cheaply made as they were- spoke to the emerging generation that would be defined by hippies, drop-outs and protesters. Suddenly, Elvis movies seemed like entertainment for their parents and grandparents.  With the success of "The Wild Angels", imitators galore sprang onto drive-in movie screens across America. The biker films were like any other genre in that some of the entries were poorly done efforts designed to reap a few fast bucks at the box-office, while others had a certain crude efficiency about them. Such a film was "The Glory Stompers", one of the better entries in the biker movie genre. Made in 1967, the film was released by (surprise!) American International, which reaped king's ransoms by producing low-budget exploitation movies. Make no mistake, "The Glory Stompers" is indeed an exploitation movie with little redeeming value beyond it's interesting cast. Dennis Hopper, in full psycho mode, top-lines as Chino, the leader of a brutal biker gang known as The Black Souls. After being dissed by members of the rival Glory Stompers gang, Chino and his posse track down a Glory Stomper, Darryl (Jody McCrea) who is with his gorgeous blonde girlfriend Chris (Chris Noel). Chris is badgering Darryl to leave the biker lifestyle and do something meaningful with his life. They are interrupted by the arrival of the Black Souls, who beat Darryl mercilessly. Believing him to be dead, Chino orders the gang to kidnap Chris to prevent her from filing murder charges against them. Chino advises the group that they will transport her by bike several hundred miles into Mexico, where he has arranged to sell her into white slavery. Unbeknownst to them, however, Darryl recovers from his wounds and immediately sets out to rescue Chris. Along the way he meets a former fellow Glory Stomper, Smiley (former Tarzan star Jock Mahoney), who agrees to join the rescue effort. The eventually pick up one other ally and his girlfriend and head into Mexico in hot pursuit of the Black Souls.

The film features a good deal of padding with extended shots of the bikers cruising down highways or navigating over sandy desert roads. There's also a good deal of footage devoted to sexploitaiton, with topless biker women riding rampant through drug-fueled orgies and the requisite cat right between jealous biker "mamas". This was pretty shocking stuff back in the day and gives the movie a relatively contemporary feel (even though today's Hell's Angels are primarily known for organizing charity fund raisers.)  The cast is rather interesting and it's apparent that Hopper's presence in films like this clearly gave him street cred when he decided to make "Easy Rider". Chris Noel is quite stunning as the kidnap victim who must use psychology to avoid frequent attempts by her captors to rape her. She's also a good actress who brings a degree of dignity to the otherwise sordid on-goings. Jock Mahoney is the grizzled biker veteran who puts loyalty above his personal safety and it's refreshing to see him wearing attire that goes beyond a loin cloth. Jody McRae, son of Joel McRae, is a bland but efficient hero. The supporting cast includes ubiquitous screen villain Robert Tessier and future music industry phenomenon Casey Kassem (!), who co-produced the movie. The direction by Anthony M. Lanza is uninspired but efficient and the cinematography by Mario Tosi (billed here as Mario Tossi) is surprisingly impressive, which explains why he became a top name in "A"-grade studio productions. The rock music tracks, produced by Mike Curb, are awful. Curb was a Boy Wonder at the time, producing memorable music scores for American International films such as "The Wild Angels" and "Wild in the Streets". Here, he's clearly slacking. Curb composed the score with Davie Allan but the duo insert jaunty, upbeat tunes during moments that call for suspense-laden tracks. Nevertheless, the film remains consistently entertaining and stands as one of the better entries in this genre. 

MGM has released "The Glory Stompers" as a burn-to-order DVD. Despite some initial artifacts present in the opening sequence, the print is crisp and clean. There are no bonus extras.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM THE CINEMA RETRO MOVIE STORE

After being faced with a laundry list of health issues stemming from a life lacking luster and a diet full of processed foods, Australia's Rohan Anderson decided to make a comprehensive life change. As documented on his ever-inspiring blog ,...
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As anyone who reads us regularly knows we are fans of letting people and businesses keep as much of their own money as possible. At least tax breaks don’t cost the taxpayer anything and if the (tax break) money is kept in the private sector that money is much more likely to be used efficiently. (Of course the Fed has deeply undermined this mechanism with QE and near 0% rates.) However, as we also say, tax breaks can still be a form of crony capitalism. If company X gets a break and company Y does not because company Y doesn’t have the right connections, this is still a politicized marketplace and distorts the economy.

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IRS threatens 'miserable' tax season...


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The last great picture Nick set out to create an archetypal image that would express both the essence of lions and how we visualize them – a picture of a time past, before lions were under such threat. Here, the five females of the Vumbi pride – a ‘formidable and spectacularly cooperative team’ – lie at rest with their cubs on a kopje (a rocky outcrop), in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park. Nick got to know and love the Vumbi pride. A few months later, he heard that it had ventured into land beyond the park and that three females had been killed. © Michael ‘Nick’ Nichols / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014

The price they pay A teenager from a village in southern Tunisia offers to sell a three-month-old fennec fox, one of a litter of pups he dug out of their den in the Sahara Desert. Catching or killing wild fennec foxes is illegal in Tunisia but widespread. Bruno discovered widespread wildlife exploitation, including hunting and capture for commercial trade and traditional medicine. He also discovered that the causes and therefore the solutions are complex and include high unemployment, poor education, lack of enforcement of conservation laws, ignorant tourists and tour companies, habitat destruction and the socio-political legacy of the ‘Arab Spring’ revolts. But Bruno is convinced that change is possible – that tourism has a part to play and that thought-provoking images can help raise awareness among tourists as well as highlight what’s happening to the fragile Sahara Desert environment. © Bruno D’Amicis / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014

As our human race continues to encroach upon and threaten the natural world that surrounds us, few genres carry as much weight as wildlife photography, and for 50 years, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition at London’s Natural History Museum has maintained its position as a leading international platform for imagery that transforms and enriches our perceptions of those creatures with whom we share our planet.

As the competition celebrates its 50th anniversary, it presents a traveling exhibition of 120 photographs by professional and aspiring photographers from around the world. This year’s competition welcomed more than 42,000 submissions from 96 countries, a testament to its astounding growth since its first year in 1965, which garnered 361 submissions. With the introduction new categories like People’s Choice, WPY Portfolio, and Time-lapse, the competition promises imagery that inspires delight, sorrow, and ultimately, action.

To capture these images, photographers braved harsh climates and even more threatening war zones, all in the name of preserving the legacy of our majestic yet vulnerable planet. Included in the competition is the Young Awards category, giving voice to the newest generation of passionate wildlife photographers. This year’s winner is 8-year-old Carlos Perez Naval from Spain, who captured a yellow scorpion brandishing his stinger. Michael ‘Nick’ Nichols from the USA takes home the grand adult title for his photograph of a pride of female lions with their cubs. The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition is on view now until August 30, 2015 at London’s Natural History Museum.

Enter the next Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition from 5 January 2015 – 26 February 2015, open to all professional, amateur and young photographers.

Stinger in the sun Aware of Carlos’s presence, the common yellow scorpion is flourishing its sting as a warning. Carlos had found it basking on a flat stone in a rocky area near his home in Torralba de los Sisones, northeast Spain. © Carlos Perez Naval / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014

Touché A focus of Jan’s trip to Ecuador was the astonishing sword-billed hummingbird – the only bird with a bill longer than its body (excluding its tail). Its 11-centimetre (4.3-inch) bill is designed to reach nectar at the base of equally long tube-shaped flowers, but Jan discovered that it can have another use. One particular bird had a regular circuit through the forest, mapped out by its favourite red angel trumpet flowers and bird-feeders near Jan’s lodge. To get to the bird-feeders, it had to cross the territory of a fiercely territorial collared inca. Rather than being scared off, once or twice a day ‘it used its bill to make a statement.’ © Jan van der Greef / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014

The long embrace The moment her eggs make contact with water, the jelly around them will begin to swell. So a female frog needs to have a male nearby, ready to fertilize the eggs the instant they leave her body. And a male needs to hold on to her to make sure he’s the one doing the fertilizing. So he grasps her in a tight embrace, known as amplexus, often for days, until she has laid her eggs. © Anton Lilja / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014

The longline lottery It had clearly been a monumental struggle: the young great white shark’s jaw jutted out at an ugly angle, evidence of how it had fought to escape from the hook before finally suffocating. Rodrigo came upon the grim sight off Magdalena Bay on the Pacific coast of Baja California, Mexico, after noticing that a fisherman’s buoy had been dragged below the surface by a considerable weight. The hook was on a long line of hooks, set to catch blue and mako sharks. ‘I was deeply shocked. Great whites are amazing, graceful and highly intelligent creatures. It was such a sad scene that I changed the image to black and white, which felt more dignified.’ Such surface?baited longlines may stretch for miles and are responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of animals every year, many of them endangered. © Rodrigo Friscione Wyssmann / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014

Snake-eyes Marc was trekking through the forest in the Val d’Aran, near his home in northern Spain – as usual, carrying his camera and keeping a lookout for animals – when he was thrilled to come across a large grass snake. ‘I have a great passion for reptiles, especially snakes,’ he says, ‘and it is rare to see this kind where I live.’ © Marc Montes / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014

Snowbird Cheese and sausage are what Siberian jays like – so Edwin discovered on a skiing holiday with his family in northern Sweden. Whenever they stopped for lunch, he would photograph the birds that gathered in hope of scraps. On this occasion, while his family ate their sandwiches, Edwin dug a pit in the snow deep enough to climb into. He scattered titbits of food around the edge and then waited. To his delight, the jays flew right over him, allowing him to photograph them from below and capture the full rusty colours of their undersides more clearly than he had dared hope. © Edwin Sahlin / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014

The elegant crowd Some years ago, the villagers of Khichan, in Rajasthan, India, started putting grain out for the few dozen birds that stopped over on migration from their breeding grounds in Eurasia. Now thousands visit and winter in the region. At dawn, Jasper would join crane conservationist Seva Ram on the roof of his house overlooking a large enclosure erected to protect feeding cranes from stray dogs. ‘Rows of Vs would come from every direction, the birds descending into the dunes. Once one had entered the enclosure, others would follow. Soon, it was filled with a sea of cranes, turning their heads in synchrony.’ © Jasper Doest / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014

Kaleidoscope A geological event half a billion years ago, at extreme heat deep within the continental crust, gave rise to this crystal formation. The black mineral, appearing like lead frames in a stained-glass window, is graphite, traversing the colourful panels of quartz and feldspar. ‘My aim is to reveal the beauty of a small world that is normally accessible only to geologists’, Bernardo explains, ‘and through images such as this to tell the fascinating story of our planet.’ © Bernardo Cesare / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014

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“Finishing” is the dirtiest word in high-end footwear. As shoe companies have exported their production to China or Bangladesh or any other country where the production practices are as questionable as the quality of the shoes, many English, Italian, and American brands have begun to exploit a convenient loophole when it comes to marking the country of origin. A shoe might be almost entirely produced overseas, but if it is “finished” in England then that company is free to tack on a “Made in England” label.

What exactly is finishing? Well in some cases it means that the shoe is completed in England – pieces are stitched together, the sole is affixed, etc. but in some cases it means that the shoe was finished and little more than the laces were added in England. Of course, countries have now begun to crack down on this, and it’s not exactly clear how many companies have taken advantage of these loose guidelines, but it’s enough to make savvy shoe-buyers weary. As a result, that “Made in England” tag no longer holds as much weight as it once did. Customers now want greater clarity on the exist origin of their footwear, which has narrowed the scope of “Made in England,” down to one area in particular: Northampton.

What Naples is for soft-shouldered sportcoats, Northampton is for leather dress shoes. Located seventy miles north of London, Northampton has been the cradle of brogued wingtips and cap-toed boots since as early as the 1200’s when King John supposedly ordered a pair of boots from a local cobbler. Location has always been the key for Northampton – it’s situated near the River Nene, surrounded by oak-wood forests which aid in the tanning process and provide easy access to thick timbers which are perfect for those hardy British soles. It was this positioning which helped to build Northampton up as the heart of England’s high-end dress shoe industry, but it was also what lead to the town’s downfall in the 1980’s.

As companies realized that their customers cared less about quality and more about frugality, they began to ship their shoe production overseas and so many of Northampton’s once busy factories were put out of business. Those that did weather this rocky period have found success on the other side, as customers from around the world not only value that “Made in England” tag, but have also taken a vested interest in the careful cobbling and high-quality materials that distinguish a Northampton made shoe. Northampton might not have as many shoe manufacturers today as it once did, but those that remain are as busy as ever. Here’s seven of Northampton’s finest – those that maintain the town’s legacy, and carve out its future so that men will never have to settle for shoes that are merely “finished” in England.

Crockett & Jones founded in 1879

Grenson founded in 1866

Tricker’s founded in 1829

Alfred Sargent founded in 1899

Joseph Cheaney & Sons founded in 1886

Edward Green founded in 1890

Church’s founded in 1873

Sanders founded in 1873

[ Filed under Transportation & in the Bikes & Cycles category ]

Sueshiro Sano was born into a Japanese shipwright family that stretched back nine generations. He built his first ship at the age of 13 and continued to hone his craft into adulthood, but what makes him stand out now is the entirely different direction he decided to take his skills in.

Sano uses his skills and tools to make some of the most remarkable bespoke bikes we’ve ever seen. Working with Honduran mahogany, Sano custom hand-crafts the lightweight bikes for each buyer based on the buyer’s specific measurements and needs.

Each bike is a work of functional art. A single bike takes up to three months to make and can cost up to $20,000. But by all accounts, the bikes are more than worth their price. They’ve garnered a cult following among cyclists and bike experts.

But for Sano, the goal isn’t about gaining praise for his work. He simply makes the bikes – and ensures their superior quality – as a point of personal pride. His traditional woodworking techniques have taken the grandiosity of a hand-built ship and made it (somewhat) more accessible in the form of incredibly stylish, gorgeously crafted one-of-a-kind bicycles.

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Cabin at 6,798 feet in the Julian Alps, Slovenia. 

Contributed by Anze Osterman

 

I missed this when the House Oversight Committee released it last week. This 3 minute clip hits some of the highlights of the investigation into improper targeting of conservative groups by the IRS.

The first 30 seconds or so of this clip are based on information first published by Breitbart News last year. The rest of the video rushes through what has been a long process of walk-back and denial by Democrats.

As the video notes, Democrats initially claimed this was the result of low-level staffers in a single office (rather than an organized campaign led by the President). Initially, President Obama claimed he was angry about what had happened. The anger didn't last very long though. Within a few weeks the entire thing was being disregarded as a phony scandal.

One of the main excuses given for discounting the IRS scandal was the claim that it had actually been bipartisan. This came arose after Democrats released documents which were reported as supporting the bipartisan claim in friendly outlets like the NY Times.

Inspector General J. Russell George specifically debunked the claim that the targeting of conservative and liberal groups was comparable, but the claim is still taken seriously in some quarters of the media. This move did not win the IG any friends among Democrats, some of whom later called for an investigation into his integrity.

And of course all of this was just a prelude to the subplot about Lois Lerner's missing emails, which has too many twists and turns to fit in a brief clip. There is probably enough material for a much longer documentary film but the clip above is a good primer.

The White House seems to be trying to back away—at least publicly—from potential plans to admit Ebola-infected non-U.S. citizens into the United States for treatment. 

Recently, I sent a troubling Judicial Watch report that the Obama administration was actively formulating a proposal to bring Ebola patients into the United States for treatment within the first days of diagnosis.

It is unclear who would bear the high costs of transporting and treating non-citizen Ebola patients. The plans reportedly include special waivers of laws and regulations that ban the admission of non-citizens with a communicable disease as dangerous as Ebola.

One source tells us that the Obama administration is keeping this plan secret from Congress. The source is concerned that the proposal is illegal, endangers the public health and welfare, and should require the approval of Congress.

We reported this exclusively on October 17. The media and Congress followed our lead and asked more questions. The Obama administration lied, despicably so, and said that our report was false. But other media confirmed our story. As we note in our Corruption Chronicles blog:

JW’s initial story also got Congress to get involved. Days after JW’s piece got published, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee fired off a letter to the secretaries of State and Homeland Security asking for details of the Ebola scheme and whether employees of their agencies had engaged in conversations regarding it. “Please provide me any and all written memos or other documentation written by employees of your Departments regarding the formulation of a plan to allow non-U.S. citizens infected with Ebola to enter the U.S. to receive medical treatment,” says the letter signed by the committee’s chair, Bob Goodlatte of Virginia.

Recently, several media outlets have confirmed JW’s story, attributing the information to an unclassified State Department report. It spells out a plan to rush foreigners into the U.S. for Ebola treatment, according to a British newspaper that links the actual four-page document. It would cost $300,000 to treat each patient and another $200,000 for transportation, the State Department memo shows. The newspaper cites the White House Press Secretary issuing a “qualified denial” last week, saying that it hasn’t happened so far and that he doesn’t know of any plans to do it. “Despite the existence of a written plan, the State Department denies that it has any intention of bringing Ebola-infected noncitizens to the U.S. for treatment,” the news article points out.

The State Department memo, authored by the deputy director of the office of international health and biodefense, Robert Sorenson, also says this: “The United States needs to show leadership and act as we are asking others to act by admitting certain non-citizens into the country for medical treatment for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) during the Ebola crisis.” In the aftermath of the document’s leak, senior administration officials have anonymously come forth to say there are “absolutely no plans” to transport foreign Ebola patients to be treated in the U.S. What should Americans believe?

I have zero confidence that this plan has been shelved, but at least it has been delayed for now. Judicial Watch’s report also explains Obama’s crazy opposition to efforts by governors to quarantine individuals believed to have been exposed to Ebola. It would certainly be more difficult to import Ebola-infected foreign nationals for swift treatment if states require 21-day quarantines to protect their citizens. 

This administration is contemptuous of the concerns of citizens, experts, and our military. Judicial Watch’s investigative report did much good in that the administration may have a harder time putting citizens at risk by sneaking Ebola-infected foreign nationals here. Our educational efforts to inform people about what its government is up to pushed the Obama administration to disavow its own policy proposal.

A top Obama aide says if pollsters' projections of a GOP Senate takeover hold up on Election Day Tuesday, President Barack Obama and his administration are in for a world of hurt. 

"We know we're in for a s**t storm if we lose the Senate. You have to gird yourself mentally 'cause you are going to come out on the other end," a "top Obama aide" told Politico Magazine. 

The aide added, "But, you hit bottom, and then you have the Obama comeback story." 

Politico says such a comeback, however, is unlikely. 

Senior Politico writer Glenn Thrush and White House Politico reporter Carrie Budoff Brown write:

It's hard to see that comeback just now, what with Obama's slow-footed responses to an array of crises and forehead-slapping lapses like his decision to play 18 holes of golf after issuing a statement condemning the American journalist James Foley's decapitation by Islamic State militants in August.

Indeed, a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that even 47% of Democrats say Obama must change his lackluster leadership style.

Voters head to the polls Tuesday.

Bats may be heroes as well as villains...


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The hat hath returned.

And no I’m not referring to the dinky trilbies that you can find at your local mall, nor that raggedy baseball cap in the back of your closet, I’m talking about an honest to God, grown man, make-Gay-Talese-proud fedora. At least for some, that is.

Some call it the Mad Men effect, some point to the revival of classic menswear, some simply chalk it up to pure foppishness, but whatever the reason may be, this (slight) chapeau renaissance has turned the spotlight back towards some illustrious accessories labels that have flown under the radar for far too long.

One such brand is Barbisio, which has been producing felt hats in the Cervo Valley in Northern Italy for over one-hundred-fifty years. Barbisio’s hats are made by hand, from pulling the wool, to soaking the felt, to shaping the hat, to setting the brim, to brushing the nape. It’s a meticulous process but the end result is a soft, pliable fedora, that is more Italian countryside than Madison Ave, which is a great thing, because you shouldn’t be dressing like Don Draper, you should dress like yourself. In a great hat.

 

 

New restrictions on Mexican sugar imports undermine the government’s negotiating position in free trade talks.

A new Gallup poll finds that support for gun control is on the decline in a major way since 2012, although the question still brings out bitter partisan divides.

Only 47 percent of Americans come out in favor of gun control, a decrease of 11 percent from 58 percent in 2012. The historic low was reached in 2011, when support for stricter gun laws fell to just 43 percent. Over a third of Americans at 38 percent polled recently by Gallup said that gun regulations are fine the way they are now, but 14 percent said they should be further loosened. When divided by political affiliations, Democrats still come out on top by far for increasing gun control.

Approximately 71 percent of Democrats are interested in strict laws, though that figure itself is down from 79 percent in 2012. Liberals went from 75 percent to 67 percent. Republicans dropped from 39 percent support for stricter laws to 29 percent in 2014. Conservatives declined from 44 percent to 32 percent.

When viewed by gender, women fell from 69 percent to 55 percent, and men also eased down from 47 percent to 40 percent.

“Public demand for stricter gun sale laws is returning to levels seen throughout the past decade. After seeing a spike in support for stricter laws following the Newtown school shooting in 2012, the call for more stringent laws has settled to near-record lows. The percentage of Americans who say that handguns should not be banned is at a near-record high as well,” Gallup analysts noted.

A near record-breaking high of 73 percent of Americans believe that handguns should not be banned. Only 25 percent of Americans think that handguns should be banned for everyone, except for police and other authorized users.

Gallup conducted the survey from October 12 to 15 with a nationally representative sample of 1,017 adults. The margin of error clocked in at plus or minus 4 percentage points at a 95 percent confident interval.

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Colorado gun owners are easily circumventing the state’s controversial ban on ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds, a TV investigation discovered.

While the law, which went into effect last summer, makes it illegal to buy or sell typical 30-round magazines, some sellers have found creative ways around the law that render it all but meaningless.

At one gun store, an undercover producer for Denver’s CBS4 bought a “kit” for a 30-round magazine, which was essentially all its parts that simply hadn’t been assembled. It took the clerk less than 30 seconds to put it together, the station reported.

And at a gun show, the producer bought a magazine retrofitted so that it would only accept 15 bullets in order to comply with the new law. That retrofit is easily undone, however, allowing the magazine to hold up to 30 rounds.

An even simpler work-around is to buy the magazines in neighboring states, where their sale and possession is legal.

The investigation comes as little surprise to law enforcement officers. Colorado’s elected sheriffs opposed the bill from its inception, saying it would be unenforceable because magazines sold before the law went into effect are still legal to possess. Since they don’t have manufacturing dates stamped on them, it’s impossible for officers to tell when the magazines were bought and sold.

Democratic lawmakers proposed the ban in the wakes of the Aurora theater and Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, saying it was necessary to save lives in such situations. The theory is that the more frequently a shooter has to stop to reload, the more chances people have to escape or end the rampage.

Critics have called it a useless infringement on the rights of law-abiding gun owners that will do nothing to prevent mass casualties by those who are intent on harming others.

The often heated debate resulted in Colorado’s first-ever recalls of two Democratic state senators who were targeted for their support of the new law. A third senator resigned rather than face a recall election so that she could preserve the Democratic majority in the chamber.

Weld County Sheriff John Cooke, one of the most vocal opponents of the law, told CBS4 he wasn’t surprised by the station’s findings.

“People are going to find a way around it,” he said.

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After the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling, Democrats predicted a flood of corporate political donations to Republican candidates, but that doesn’t seem to be what’s happening.

Before the decision was even handed down, New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez told The New York Times, “Clearly, the Republican Party overwhelmingly would benefit,” while other Democrats talked of a “legislative response” to the perceived threat.

The ruling applied equally to corporations and labor unions, allowing both to make unlimited contributions to political action committees (PACs) that did not coordinate with candidates’ campaigns, but union leaders likewise feared that, “the corporate side will always have more to spend than the union side.”

However, a list on Open Secrets of the organizations that have donated the most money in this election cycle suggests that such trepidation may have been somewhat overblown.

The list is based on “donations from employees of the organization, its PAC, and in some cases its own treasury,” including “all campaign contributions to federal candidates, parties, political action committees (including super PACs), federal 527 organizations, and Carey committees.”

Of the 50 organizations on the list, 31 are either corporations or trade associations, and 16 are labor unions; and while labor unions predictably gave the vast majority of their money to Democratic and liberal groups, corporations did not evince the favoritism toward Republican andconservative causes that Democrats had foretold.

As of October 25, corporate donations to Democrats and liberals totaled about $136 million, compared to about $98 million for Republican and conservative recipients. Labor unions, on the other hand, gave $119 million to Democrats, but less than $3 million to Republicans.

For the most part, corporations tended to spread their donations more or less evenly between Republicans and Democrats, albeit with a few notable exceptions.

The top donor on the list (by far) was Fahr LLC, which gave all of its nearly $74 million to Democrats. This is not terribly surprising given that Fahr is owned by Tom Steyer, who is well known for his support of the Democratic Party—as is George Soros, whose company gave all but $34,000 of its nearly $4 million to Democrats. Steyer is also a major booster of environmentalists.

Their Republican-leaning counterparts, Elliot Management and Renaissance Technologies, gave a combined $20 million to conservative groups, and even managed to find another half-million for Democrats.

Meanwhile, no labor union on the list gave more than $650,000 to conservative causes, and most gave less than $75,000, but all gave millions to liberal groups.

The biggest spender among unions was the National Education Association, which gave a bit less than $24 million to Democrats, while the most partisan was the SEIU, which did not give Republicans a single cent out of the more than $12 million they contributed.

The union that displayed the least bias was the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which gave just under 16 percent of its $4 million to Republicans. The only other union to top 10 percent was the Operating Engineers Union, which gave 10.7 percent to Republicans.

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Bats may be heroes as well as villains...


(Third column, 6th story, link)

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Think about this. It’s STILL true.

I personally have been a fan of Amazon for a long time. However, that they are now a CIA contractor gives me some pause. At the very least CEO Jeff Bezos should assure its customers publicly in a legally binding way that it won’t share customer information with the Central Intelligence Agency. (As activists are demanding.) That seems pretty reasonable to me.

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This was an idiotic move by Hungary in the first place. Good to see that people power set the government straight. It is always good to see a tax revolt. An anti-Internet tax revolt is even better. Hopefully this sends a message to other pols pining for an Internet tax. We know you’re out there.

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Friday’s crash of the Virgin Galactic space-plane in California was, of course, a tragedy: One test-pilot was killed, and another seriously injured. 

But there is, at least, a silver lining: There’s no need to worry about another possible issue concerning Richard Branson’s spaceflight venture—namely, that all those internal-combustion-powered flights would contribute to the dread danger of climate change.  

Indeed, to the untrained eye and the untutored mind, it might seem that so much fuel-burning jet- and rocket-powered air-activity would inevitably add to the carbon load of the atmosphere. 

But there’s no need to worry about that.

How do we know?  Because as The New York Times report on the crash tells us, among those on the waiting list to fly on the Virgin aircraft is the actor Leonardo DiCaprio. And DiCaprio, of course, is a duly designated United Nations Messenger of Peace, with a specific mandate to focus on climate change.   

As UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said of the actor in making the appointment last year, “Mr. DiCaprio is a credible voice in the environmental movement, and has a considerable platform to amplify its message. I am pleased he has chosen to add his voice to UN efforts to raise awareness of the urgency and benefits of acting now to combat climate change.”

Given DiCaprio’s estimable position, we can be certain that he would do nothing to jeopardize the environment by flying in carbon dioxide-producing machines. 

In fact, because he is so special, DiCaprio can be a UN Messenger of Peace and be an early flyer on Richard Branson’s rocket project—if the $250,000-a-person flight program ever takes off. So there is no hypocrisy here.

Thus our political conscience requires us to conclude that accusations that DiCaprio is having it both ways—publicly soaking up liberal adulation for climate-change activism while privately seeking to go space-joyriding—are obviously the mean-spirited insinuations of right-wingers, clinging, no doubt, to their God and their guns

The “This is what a feminist looks like” t-shirt proudly worn by Harriet Harman during Prime Ministers Questions last Wednesday was made by factory girls in the Mauritius who earn just 62p an hour and sleep 16 to a room. The shirts are currently being sold at Whistles for £45 each, with all profits donated to the Fawcett Society, a campaigning group for women’s rights. But one worker told the Mail on Sunday “We don’t feel like feminists. We don’t feel equal. We feel trapped.”

The t-shirts are being promoted by women’s magazine Elle in their forthcoming edition, which features a number of men including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Labour Leader Ed Miliband, and the actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard E Grant and Simon Pegg all sporting the shirt.

Prime Minister David Cameron landed himself in hot water by repeatedly refusing to take part in the feature by wearing one of the shirts, but it appears that he may have the last laugh as an investigation by the Mail on Sunday has revealed that the girls making the shirts are committed to 45 hour weeks for which they are paid just 6000 rupees – about £120 – a month, meaning that it would take them a week and a half to earn the money required to buy one of the shirts.

Hailing from India, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Sri Lanka, the girls sign a four year contract with Compagnie Mauricienne de Textile (CMT), the company which owns the factories, and are unable to see their families during that time. Most send their earnings home to their families, as the rupees are worth more in their native countries than they are in Mauritius. Whilst on-site they sleep 16 to a room and leaving the site during the working week is frowned upon in case they return “hung-over”.

Fayzal Ally Beegun, president of the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Union said: “The workers in this factory are treated very poorly and the fact that politicians in England are making a statement using these sweatshop T-shirts is appalling.

“It would take a woman working in the factory nearly two weeks just to buy one shirt. What is feminist about that? These women have nothing in this world. They are paid a pittance and any money they do receive they send back home.

“They work very long hours and have no lives other than their work. They are on four-year contracts that mean they don’t get to see their families in that time. What kind of existence is it when you are sharing your bedroom with 15 other women?

“The women have no careers or even the most basic of opportunities. This is not what feminism is supposed to be.”

CMT employs 13,000 staff in its factories, 4,500 of whom are migrant workers who live on site. Its annual turnover is £125million, earned by producing 40million t-shirts a year for retailers such as Topshop, Urban Outfitters and Next. The ‘feminism’ t-shirt cost just £9 to make.

The company was heavily criticised in 2007 when it was discovered that women were being paid just £4 a day to produce garments for Sir Philip Green’s Kate Moss collection at Topshop. It was also under fire for paying differing rates to workers of different nationalities and promising migrant better wages than they actually received, but since then the company has altered its policies, now paying the Mauritian minimum wage to all workers, regardless of nationality, and sets out the correct wages before the workers sign their contracts.

Francois Woo, managing director of CMT’s factory in La Tour Koenig, north Mauritius told the Mail: “The Mauritian government has set out a minimum wage that we must pay and we abide by their rules.

“I am like a parent to the workers. They are free to come and go as they please but if they go out on a weeknight I will not be happy because then they will turn up for work the next day hung-over. If people didn’t want to work for us then they don’t have to, nobody is forcing them. If they have the chance to earn more somewhere else then they should go elsewhere. If they didn’t like it, then we would not have existed as a company for 28 years.”

But the workers disagreed. One 30 year old migrant worker said: “I have worked here for four years and I have not been able to see my son or husband in Bangladesh during all that time. We work very hard, sometimes 12 hour days, for not much money. I send all my money home and could not afford to fly back and see my family.

“It is awful but we have no choice. In my country, the rupees I earn here are worth three times as much as they are in Mauritius.

“How can this T-shirt be a symbol of feminism?”

The Fawcett Society, who commissioned the shirts as part of their campaigning activities has said that it was “disappointed” to hear allegations that the shirts were produced in sweatshop conditions.

“As a charity that campaigns on women’s rights in the labour market, we take ethical standards very seriously. We have been assured by Whistles that the “This is what a feminist looks like” range has been produced to ethical standards,” said Dr Eva Neitzert, deputy chief executive at the Fawcett Society.

“We have been very disappointed to hear the allegations that conditions in the Mauritius factory may not adhere to the ethical standards that we, as the Fawcett Society, would require of any product that bears our name.

“If any concrete and verifiable evidence of mistreatment of the garment producers emerges, we will require Whistles to withdraw the range with immediate effect and donate part of the profits to an ethical trading campaigning body,” she said, adding that Whistles had assured the Fawcett Society that the factory was “a fully audited, socially and ethical compliant factory.”

A spokesman for Whistles, which counts the Duchess of Cambridge amongst its clients, said “CMT has Oekotex accreditation, [an independent certificate for the supply chain] which fully conforms to the highest standards in quality and environmental policy, while having world-class policies for sustainable development, social, ethical and environmental compliance.

“We carry out regular audits of our suppliers in line with our high corporate social responsibility standards”.

Upon the company’s launch, Jane Shepherdson, founder of Whistles intoned "Customers cannot keep buying cheap clothes and not ask where they come from" – as "someone somewhere down the line is paying".

A Labour spokesman said: “This was a campaign run by Elle and the Fawcett Society to promote feminism and we were happy to support it,” whilst a spokesman for Nick Clegg said “Nick Clegg had no idea where these T-shirts were being made and can only assume that the Fawcett Society were unaware of the origins, or they would not have asked him to wear it. He remains entirely supportive of efforts to ensure all women are treated as equals in this country and the world over.”

Mexican Judge orders release of jailed Marine...


(Second column, 1st story, link)

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