European Tribune - Community, Politics & Progress.

McDonald's to expose everything about its chemical food in Russia - English pravda.ru

I saw her live once, when she was Minister for Culture, at the Ampitheatre in Epidaurus. She gave an introduction to Don Knuth who was giving the invited talk. I'm afraid Mercouri's speech was all Greek to me.

by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 05:31:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 3)

Wonder if they will be successful?

Consumer rights' advocates filed a lawsuit against McDonald's fast food chain in Russia. The lawsuit was filed at Moscow's Tverskoy Court. The plaintiffs intend to oblige the company to indicate the complete list of ingredients on packaging, rather than the content of protein, fat and carbohydrates.
Representatives of the Consumer Rights Protection Society claim that concealing the content of products the company violates the status of the retail outlet of finished products, not to mention the fact that it misleads consumers. According to experts, the range of milkshakes, which the chain sells, can not be referred to as "milk" under the Russian law, Adindex.ru reports.
Experts discovered the fat of vegetable origin in McDonald's "milkshakes." This drink, according to experts at the Institute of Laboratory of Nutrition, can be called "milk-containing" but not "milk". The advocates of consumers rights do not demand any fines from McDonald's. They only say the company should disclose information and redesign the product packaging. However, even this measure will entail multi-million costs for McDonald's once the court upholds it.

by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 11:31:42 AM EST
[ Parent ]

http://news.discovery.com/tech/wind-power-without-the-blades.html

The proposed design calls for 1,203 ""stalks," each 180-feet high with concrete bases that are between about 33- and 66-feet wide. The carbon-fiber stalks, reinforced with resin, are about a foot wide at the base tapering to about 2 inches at the top. Each stalk will contain alternating layers of electrodes and ceramic discs made from piezoelectric material, which generates a current when put under pressure. In the case of the stalks, the discs will compress as they sway in the wind, creating a charge.

If it works, this sounds really cool.

by ElaineinNM on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 06:02:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Darn right.

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 07:29:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Independent - Tourism gold? Olympics set to lose Britain billions

File under Who Could Have Predicted?

Unwanted hotel rooms needlessly reserved for dignitaries by Olympic organisers will be a key factor in a tourism slump set to cost Britain billions this summer, top travel industry figures have warned.
The organising committee for the London 2012 Games, Locog, revealed yesterday that it had over-estimated by a quarter the number of rooms needed by officials, media and sponsors. It has now handed back 120,000 of the total 600,000 nights booked for the sporting event.
The large-scale reservation of rooms in early preparation for the Games has caused increased prices across the capital and has put many regular tourists off visiting this summer. Tour operators warned last night that a sudden flood of vacant rooms would be too late to boost visitor numbers.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 11:42:55 AM EST

They say

If the Parisian and Italian hoteliers do their job then the tours may never return to London."

Unless Rome gets the 2020 Olympics and pushes the tourists back to London....

by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 11:46:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]

more fool them if they do. I rather fancy 3 weeks pub crawling around Germany myself

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 11:55:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]

And I can help!

But don't forget October with Crazy Horse.

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 12:09:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

But you don't drink beer.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 12:21:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Other people do though...

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman

by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 01:12:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

hee, I'm counting on it. If I do this, I'll be swinging through Koln as well as Munich and Bamberg and ...and

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 01:13:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Great stuff!

I'm sure I mentioned the nanobrewery down the street.

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman

by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 01:14:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

looks like the Berlin beer fest will be worth a detour, 3 - 5th august

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 02:21:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

SOMEBODY has to drive. I do drink wine though, if we're walking.

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 01:19:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Ah, now we're talking, tho' there's a pretty good public transport network in your neck of the woods

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 01:21:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

But it doesn't run late at night, as a colleague of mine in Munich found out, waking up at the end of the S-Bahn line during Starkbierfest....

by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 01:26:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

it's a long long time since I did that. I have a reputation for getting home in even the most drunken of states

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 01:27:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Actually, as a foreign language no-hoper I think it would be lovely to know what's on the food menu. I've been known to starve on those occasions where I can't find a menu with pictures

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 01:28:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Not to worry; I downloaded, cut and pasted, made a whole booklet of every menu item you can thing of, in German, Spanish, French, Italian and, of course, English. It's broken into categories like meat, bread, vegetables, etc., then alphabetized. Actually, it's a pain in the %#&, but you won't accidentally order poached pancreas, for example.

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 01:35:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Has the date for Bremen been set?

by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 01:29:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Not sure, I have a feeling it's supposed to coincide with something

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 01:42:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

drinking?

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 01:46:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

on every day that ends with a y

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 02:02:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Imbibetion (none / 1)

Litfass

oder vielleicht

Lemon Lounge

Video Here

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 02:09:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Not yet, as the CH is at the moment in a bit of a bind.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 01:47:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 3)

Though it would hopefully be one of the first weekends in October.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 01:51:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Try to stay out of jail, or does that attitude ruin all the fun?

Now where's the fun in that! - Megatron

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 03:47:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I don't do jail, goodie goodie me.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 03:52:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Independent - Lobbying official turned down reform meetings

Another Who Could Have Predicted?

The official in charge of drawing up plans to regulate lobbying met industry officials four times in the run up to the publication of the Government's controversial consultation paper but refused to meet campaigners calling for reform once, it emerged yesterday.
Eirian Walsh-Atkins stood down as head of constitutional policy at the Cabinet Office on Friday after posting a message on Twitter saying she hoped a group fighting for better regulation of the industry "would die".
It emerged that, while she had met representatives of the UK Public Affairs Council (Ukpac), a lobby industry body promoting self-regulation, four times since September 2010, she refused meetings with Unlock Democracy and the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency.
When asked why she had posted the message on Twitter she said: "I don't like them," and hung up. The Cabinet Office also rejected a Freedom of Information request to disclose details of its contacts with the lobbying industry.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 11:44:54 AM EST

Appropo of nothing, I'm betting on Nokia to make a comeback. Go, Finns!

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 12:10:49 PM EST

I'm not. And I worked in telecomm for about 10 years.

by stevesim on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 12:21:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Well, so did the people at Nokia, and look how much good it's done them lately... heh.

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 01:48:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 3)

It seems obvious to me that Nokia is doomed -- or at the very least isn't going to be the 800-pound gorilla it was in the past.

Hell, they can't even hold a majority among Finns anymore.

It looked like they might be finally getting it with the N9, but the whole Microsoft coup put an end to that. The Lumia doesn't seem to be moving much.

Used to be they'd make their money moving enormous numbers of crappy little free phones. But you can get an Android or an iPhone for free now, so why bother? And at the higher end, while they may deliver some decent phones with Microsoft, there's the obvious question that they haven't answered: "Why would I buy a Nokia when for the same price (or cheaper) I could have a Nexus or an iPhone?"

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin

by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 02:27:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Even the kids down stables (who are all going to be middle income and up, but not all that rich, mostly) are wandering around with either iPhones (put a damn case on it you stupid teenager), blackberries (for some groups the free messaging is a killer app) or something with Android on it.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 02:38:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Nokia hasn't made that much margin on devices for quite some time - the bigger effort (and income) has been in enterprise software. The MS OS and integration with enterprisewide PC systems etc could still have a large market. The iphone is great if you're a maccie, which the majority aren't.

Very few people have a clue about enterprise MDM, and until they do, the workstation will still rule - and that means MS.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 03:53:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Sven Triloqvist:

The MS OS and integration with enterprisewide PC systems etc could still have a large market.

Only if they can make something better then those that develop similar integration for the Android platform with PC. Which I doubt because MS standard tactic of ensuring greater integration by sabotaging other products will not work unless they first get themselves a decent market share, so it becomes a chicken and egg problem.

I think that now that mobile phones are becoming handheld computers with phone capabilities Nokia is in the same tailspin in the mobile phone market that Ericsson entered when Nokia started to deliver consumer products that replaced Ericssons technical products. But we will see.

In other news Ericsson recently sold of the last part of Sony-Ericsson and is now out of the mobile phone market, but still a successfull company in the network market where their technical focus and big organisation perspective is an advantage instead of a liability.

A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!

by A swedish kind of death on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 04:38:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The rumor, and it's only a rumor right now, is that the Nokia Lumia 9 will be 99 dollars. Who knows. But I made money today, and I'll get out if the stock starts dropping too fast. But it's cheap now, so not a particularly worrisome bet. I'll give it 'til April, after the launch of the phone in the USA.

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 05:04:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 5)

I am perhaps more on the pessimistic side, though all my old contacts there have moved on to other things, so I no longer have any inside information. I also used to do voiceovers for their internal product development groups, so I would know perhaps a year ahead what phones and capabilities were coming to market. Information that I must say only came to me upon my signing of an NDA that could only be described as punitive. As I recall, torture was frequently mentioned. Haven't done one of those for over a year.

But it seems to me that Nokia continues to benefit greatly from the supporting infrastructure (which has always included small, fast, niche entrepreneurs) that built up around it over decades. And the Finns are more used to working collectively, as opposed to operating in patent protected silos. i.e. less competition and more cooperation, or, as the technocrats here call it, 'precompetition'. For these IT entrepreneurs, the Nokia OS is not the problem (nor the religion) - they've been porting back and forth across multiple systems for years. All they really want is a platform with a big enough, and stable enough customer base.

If Nokia can continue to work creatively with this infrastructure, then I'd be optimistic about its future. But I'm sure Elop brought an american management style with him that might not work with the mobile nerds/start-up CEOs.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 01:15:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I'm counting on the Nokia Lumia 900, for which Nokia is teaming up with Microsoft (Microsoft 7 for the platform (?)) and AT&T, with a possible launch date in March in the USA with really aggressively competitive pricing.

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 01:22:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The most I'm hoping for, of course, since I'm actually betting with money, is not to lose any. Don't mind if I only make a little.

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 01:23:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Elop is a Canadian.

and as I recall, there are some great start-ups in Finland, but even more in the USA.

I was reading some comments on RIM in a Canadian magazine over the week-end and it describes to a tee the problem with Nokia - only the worse kiss-asses I know from my previous companies got hired on there.

As for MS, it's the kiss of death for any telecomm company and has been for years.

by stevesim on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 01:55:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

We'll see.

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 02:10:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

ms has tried three times that I know of to crack into the telecomm market and they have all been dismal failures

nokia should not have thought of them as a life preserver, more of an anchor

by stevesim on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 02:12:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

None-the-less, now we're talking about the future, so we'll see. But if you get off on Schadenfreude, I'll make sure and let you know how much I lose in the market. But today I'm up.

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 02:22:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

nope, not my cup of tea.

and I have found that the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour.

by stevesim on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 02:41:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

We'll see.

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 05:06:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

American Management (none / 1)

Certain amount of self-satisfaction to wade through and discount but this:

Mads Øvlisen, former CEO of Novo Nordisk, a pharmaceuticals maker, represents the Scandinavian management style. This is how he describes his experience with the American model: "Already in my time in the USA, the terrifying thing for me was that the people, who are a company, did only what was expected of them and not what they were capable of. I did not want to work in an American company. It was a type of military organization that was completely hopeless. One that decided how much time you used, when you were promoted, what you said to whom and whom you addressed. A hierarchy I simply could not use."

is right on the money.

Since "Elop worked for Microsoft from January 2008 to September 2010 as the head of the Business Division ..." [wikipedia, no link] it's fairly sure he is imbued with American Management in its Microsoft version.

by ATinNM on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 03:39:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

nope. that isn't very long so my guess is that he didn't fit in.

by stevesim on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 03:42:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: American Management (4.00 / 5)

Elop could have been:

In my experience high-flying management types don't hang around long. They need to come in, screw the long term for the short term, get praise for the bump in company profitability, and then on to the next company before reality hits.

by ATinNM on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 03:49:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: American Management (4.00 / 6)

It's called Seagull management. Fly in, shit on everything, fly out. Very common

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 03:53:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I worked in a company owned and managed by Finns. It was one of the worst experiences of my life. Their product quality is horrible and I wonder how they manage to hang on to their customers, who were threatening them on a daily basis while I was working there.

by stevesim on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 03:44:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: American Management (none / 1)

We'll put that down to anecdotal. It's not my experience.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 03:55:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

really? I grew up with a lot of transplanted Finns and they were always a little different, but in a nice way. there's even a little town with a Finnish name and a nursing home for old Finns!!

so I and the Finns expected a positive experience but it was anything but. I was quite surprised to say the least. I and they thought that since we both came from very Northern climes, we would get along, but their company was a disaster and did not mind shipping software that did not work to their customers who complained quite a bit, and were considered quite rude for doing so.

I had my one and only migraine while was working there, and luckily I got 10 days off work while the doctors were trying to figure out why my head was hurting so badly.

by stevesim on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 04:20:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I think trying to describe companies based upon the country of origin is as silly as trying to describe people that way, to be honest.

The only European companies that come to midn that I have experience with: Nokia (owned a few of their phones), IKEA (own a lot of their furniture), Volkswagen (many friends have owned them), and Daimler (electrical stuff in my car from the Merger of Equals^TM ~~Error~~ Era). I'm sure there are many others I simply can't think of.

Nokia and IKEA have always been good in my experience. As cheap crap goes, they've made some of the best cheap crap on the market..

VW and Daimler make Angela Merkel look competent.

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin

by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 05:45:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Which one was that? And when?

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 05:07:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I'm not betting either way. Apple was doomed in the late 1990s.

What if they invent (and successfully get patent protection for) the tooth-embedded cell phone? The thought-controlled camera? The flying bug that drones over your head and takes a movie of everything you do, from a third-person viewpoint? The music library that has every song ever written, for free? (That would be a good one.)

Predicting tech company futures is pretty risky...

by asdf on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 05:11:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

not really. when Jobs came back, that sealed Apple's fate.

Warren Buffett just bought 4% of RIM stock so he seems to know something there.

Nokia, sorry to say, went with a loser, MS.

by stevesim on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 05:16:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Typical American attitude, the silver medal winner is a loser.

Still wondering what the name of that Finnish Company was.

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 05:29:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I'm not American, but you are, aren't you?

by stevesim on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 05:40:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Not talking citizenship, talking "attitude." Part of the reason I left.

That bad company with the Finns? No name?

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 05:43:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

hmm. I am biting my tongue here.

by stevesim on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 05:44:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

And I'm sticking mine out.

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 05:47:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

whatever.

by stevesim on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 08:26:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

And why would you claim the USA as your country? You're not living there, are you?

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 05:46:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

if you work for the FBI, I must have missed it.

by stevesim on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 08:28:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Check your own info page on ... hmmmm, what's that blog... oh, yeah, eurotrib.com.

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Tue Jan 31st, 2012 at 02:24:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Busted :-))

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Tue Jan 31st, 2012 at 02:45:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]

that was the factory setting. now, it is more reflective of reality...

by stevesim on Tue Jan 31st, 2012 at 05:55:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]

GEMA Under Fire For Royalties Dispute With YouTube

by sgr2 on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 12:37:23 PM EST

GEMA Goblins (4.00 / 4)

"I suspect that some members of GEMA's supervisory board have not yet arrived in the digital era," said Edgar Berger, CEO of Sony Music Entertainment GSA in Munich, to Billboard.biz. "We want to see streaming services like Vevo and Spotify in the German market. [These platforms] must not be blocked by GEMA any longer. Artists and music companies are losing sales in the millions."
Frank Briegmann, President of Universal Music Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Deutsche Grammophon label in Berlin, is also frustrated that agreements are being reached between collection societies and YouTube everywhere else in the world except Germany, the world's third largest music market. "Germany is a developing country in the digital music market," Briegman said. "GEMA apparently has not yet understood the new developments in the international music market."
....
In an online statement, the anonymous hackers warned GEMA, stating: "We are observing with concern your excessive demands with regard to copyright-protected material on YouTube and other platforms. If there is no change in this attitude, we will be forced to take further measures."
....
A Google spokesman Kay Oberbeck told Billboard in Hamburg that YouTube had entered into 20 agreements with collection societies from 33 countries. "We therefore regret all the more that GEMA has decided to commence legal proceedings against us despite the promising talks which we have held, thus removing the basis for conducting any further negotiations in a spirit of mutual trust. A solution can only be found at the negotiating table without any legal proceedings. We are prepared to resume negotiations at any time."

So that's why some of us only get GEMA alerts when people post what everyone else can see.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 12:54:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Aging Punkers Take LA MOCA (none / 0)

That would be Museum of Contemporary Art in LaLaLand.

X, Dead Kennedys, The Avengers - MOCA at the Geffen - 1/28/12

Of course, Jello Biafra was missing.

h/t Penelope Houston

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 02:31:42 PM EST

Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 4)

Letters of Note: To My Old Master

In August of 1865, a Colonel P.H. Anderson of Big Spring, Tennessee, wrote to his former slave, Jourdan Anderson, and requested that he come back to work on his farm. Jourdan -- who, since being emancipated, had moved to Ohio, found paid work, and was now supporting his family -- responded spectacularly by way of the letter seen below (a letter which, according to newspapers at the time, he dictated).

Rather than quote the numerous highlights in this letter, I'll simply leave you to enjoy it. Do make sure you read to the end.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 03:32:23 PM EST

yea, word

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 03:43:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Beautiful and satisfying.

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 05:11:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

European DaDa (none / 0)

EUObserver: Sweden abstains from non-binding conclusions on jobs and growth

A statement by EU leaders on "growth-friendly consolidation and job-friendly growth" was published on Monday with the mention that Swedish PM Fredrik Reinfeldt "was not in the position to subscribe" to it "for parliamentary reasons." The minority coalition in Sweden only had a mandate for the fiscal treaty, sources say.

On the other hand, Sweden will sign the new Fiscal Compact Treaty, which will require enshrining a deficit limit of 0.5% of GDP in the national Constitutions.

tens of millions of people stand to see their lives ruined because the bureaucrats at the ECB don't understand introductory economics -- Dean Baker

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 04:04:46 PM EST

Re: European DaDa (none / 0)

European Council: STATEMENT OF THE MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL 30 JANUARY 2012 - TOWARDS GROWTH-FRIENDLY CONSOLIDATION AND JOB-FRIENDLY GROWTH (English) [PDF]

On the excuse of the crisis, nothing is done to address its causes, but rather

Blah blah blah

tens of millions of people stand to see their lives ruined because the bureaucrats at the ECB don't understand introductory economics -- Dean Baker

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 04:12:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: European DaDa (none / 0)

Migeru:

On the other hand, Sweden will sign the new Fiscal Compact Treaty, which will require enshrining a deficit limit of 0.5% of GDP in the national Constitutions.

But Sweden will only sign if Sweden gets a pass from having to obey the rules. And get to attend eurosummits (I think the current bid is one a year now).

A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!

by A swedish kind of death on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 06:28:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Some friends this afternoon installing a trompe l'oeil floor sticker they designed.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 04:08:31 PM EST

Ha! I would fall down crossing that for sure.

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 05:12:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 5)

May i just say, if I didn't hate ironing before, I would now. after spending a morning building flat pack furniture. (the charity my slavemasters sent me to today get all the returns from a large uk supermarket to recycle. I would say they are a borderline scam working off free labour and allowing said supermarket chain to use work placement free staff while being at arms lengtg, but I may be being biassed)

this afternoon was spent unpacking around about 100 ironing boards. putting them up. seeing if they were ok (for ok read not too badly bent) disassembling the ones that were too bad and stacking the remainder in a pile. If I wasnt complaining I'd be doing this for another 4 1/2 months.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 06:12:44 PM EST

What's the advertised rationale for this, again?

tens of millions of people stand to see their lives ruined because the bureaucrats at the ECB don't understand introductory economics -- Dean Baker

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 06:22:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Keeping the unemployed in the labour market, by making sure that they do not get used to not getting up in the morning.

- Jake

If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 06:24:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

pretty much

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 06:41:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Because soshulizm.

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin

by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 08:00:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Private Eye | Official Site

IN THE Eye's growing post-bag of appalling decisions made by the French service company Atos in assessing sick and disabled people with a view to stripping them of benefits and deeming them to be "fit for work", one of the most shocking concerns Keith Tilbury.

Mr Tilbury spent 13 days in a coma fighting for his life after he was accidentally shot in the stomach by a police firearms officer. The bullet smashed a rib, damaged his sternum and put a hole in his liver. He had to have part of a kidney removed and lost part of his bowel. He had massive entry and exit wounds, muscle and other extensive soft tissue damage.
Dirty Harry's weapon of choice
Since that disaster in 2007, Mr Tilbury has suffered two heart attacks while undergoing surgery, a quadruple coronary bypass, two transient ischemic attacks (mini-strokes), one full-blown stroke resulting in reduced vision in his eyes, post-operative complications - and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 07:35:46 PM EST

Bismarck reads the Marseilleise (4.00 / 2)

Restored Edison Records Revive Giants of 19th-Century Germany | NYT

Tucked away for decades in a cabinet in Thomas Edison's laboratory, just behind the cot in which the great inventor napped, a trove of wax cylinder phonograph records has been brought back to life after more than a century of silence.
The cylinders, from 1889 and 1890, include the only known recording of the voice of the powerful chancellor Otto von Bismarck.
[...]
n October 1889 Wangemann and his wife visited the 74-year-old Bismarck, then chancellor of the German empire, at his castle in Friedrichsruh. Bismarck listened to recordings made in Paris and Berlin, and at his wife's urging, he made his own. He recited snippets of poetry and songs in English, Latin, French and German. Perhaps surprisingly, given his involvement in the Franco-Prussian War, he chose to recite lines from the French national anthem.

by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on Tue Jan 31st, 2012 at 09:04:24 AM EST

Re: Bismarck reads the Marseilleise (none / 0)

gk:

Perhaps surprisingly, given his involvement in the Franco-Prussian War

...well, after all, he did overthrow the Second Empire, leading to the Third Republic.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Tue Jan 31st, 2012 at 11:21:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Bismarck reads the Marseilleise (none / 1)

Here it is, along with Moltke and other recordings.

by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on Tue Jan 31st, 2012 at 03:32:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Bismarck reads the Marseilleise (none / 0)

One note: the Moltke recordings are probably the only ones ever made by someone born in the 18th century (insert debate over which century 1800 was really in).

by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on Wed Feb 1st, 2012 at 03:26:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Bismarck reads the Marseilleise (none / 0)

I was quite impressed with Bismarck's French & English accents. And we never hear Prussian accents anymore in German. More soft-spoken than I would have ever imagined.

by stevesim on Wed Feb 1st, 2012 at 04:02:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]