May
16
2013
BERLIN – It is possibly the German capital’s most visible new tourist attraction, but the opening of the bright pink Barbie Dreamhouse Experience was picketed Thursday by women’s groups protesting the “cliché of the female role in society.”
Only a stone’s throw from Berlin’s fashionable Alexanderplatz shopping district, a water fountain in the shape of a huge pink high-heeled shoe now welcomes Barbie fans into a whole world of glittery, cerise-colored fun.
But while the city’s toy …
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May
16
2013
Beijing (CNN) — Demonstrators braved a heavy police presence and the threat of arrest by massing Thursday in the streets of Kunming, China, to protest the planned construction of a chemical plant, they said.
“It was mostly a peaceful protest,” said an activist who asked to be identified only by his family name, Young. “We were singing the national anthem, shouting ‘Get out, refinery!’ together.”
He added, “We were scattered by the heavy police force in the …
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May
16
2013
The worsening violence and repression in Syria has left policymakers scrambling to think of ways the United States could help end the bloodshed and support those seeking to dislodge the Assad regime. The desperate desire to “do something” has led to increasing calls for the United States to provide military aid to armed insurgents or even engage in direct military intervention, especially in light of the possible use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime.
The …
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May
16
2013
The Working Families Flexibility Act H.R. 1406 passed the House at the beginning of May. The Bill which was put forth by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Rep. Martha Roby would replace overtime pay with comp time. Aside from eliminating overtime income for employees, the Bill would allow management to decide when an employee could take the comp time that they had earned. While …
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May
16
2013
A factory in Cambodia that makes Asics sneakers collapsed on top of workers early Thursday, raising fears about the level of safety in the global garment industry.
The ceiling of a factory south of the capitol Phnom Penh collapsed on top of 50 workers, killing two and injuring eleven, said Khem Pannara, district police chief for the area.
Heavy iron equipment stored on the floor above appeared to have caused the collapse.
Aided by soldiers, rescue workers dug …
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May
14
2013
Agricultural development is essential for the developing world to foster sustainable economies, enhance food security to combat global hunger and increase resiliency to climate change. Addressing these challenges will require diverse strategies that emphasize sustainable, productive approaches that are directed by countries in the developing world.
But in the past decade, the United States has aggressively pursued foreign policies in food and agriculture that benefit the largest seed companies. The U.S. State Department has launched …
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May
14
2013
On Jan. 23, 2008, the pharmaceutical company Novartis threw a party at a restaurant on Long Island. The party, which cost $1,250, was ostensibly for doctors to learn about cardiovascular drugs made by the company, with Novartis sales representatives present as well.
But no doctors ever came, according to a whistleblower lawsuit against Novartis that was unsealed last week. Instead, nine sales reps ran up the tab, and the company wrote an honorarium check to Dr. …
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May
14
2013
(Reuters) – Major U.S. retailers, including Gap Inc, declined to endorse an accord on Bangladesh building and fire safety backed by Europe’s two biggest fashion chains, a trans-Atlantic divide that may dilute garment industry reform efforts.
Three weeks after the collapse of a building housing garment factories, which killed more than 1,100 people, Western brands that rely on Bangladesh to produce clothing cheaply disagreed over how best to ensure worker safety.
Gap said it was ready to …
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May
14
2013
Neat fact: If the federal government were to take all of the money it pours into various forms of financial aid each year, it could go ahead and make tuition free, or close to it, for every student at every public college in the country.
Will it ever happen? Ha. Not unless Bernie Sanders somehow leads a Latin American-style coup down Pennsylvania Avenue. But one of the reasons I argued for the idea a couple …
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May
14
2013
Breadwinning makes no sense without caregiving. Someone must transform income into the food, shelter, clothing, nurture, discipline, education, minding, nursing, transportation, and emotional support that creates life outside of the office, permits survival of the race, cares for the ill and disabled, and makes life livable when we can no longer care for ourselves. Yet the United States lags behind almost all other industrialized countries in providing the goods, services, and incentives that make it …
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