Breningstall.com

Bribes, Chinese Mob Ties Alleged at Casino of Gingrich Money Man | ABC News

The casino company run by the principal financial backer of Newt Gingrich's presidential bid, Sheldon Adelson, has been under criminal investigation for the last year by the Department of Justice and the Securities Exchange Commission for alleged bribery of foreign officials, according to corporate documents.

In a separate civil lawsuit, a former executive of the company has alleged that Adelson ordered him to keep quiet about sensitive issues at the Sands casinos on the Chinese island of Macau, including the casinos' alleged "involvement with Chinese organized crime groups, known as Triads, connected to the junket business." The triads -- Chinese organized crime syndicates -- are allegedly involved in organizing high stakes gambling junkets for wealthy Chinese travelers.

story continues news.yahoo.com

"Drop Down Mama" - Sleepy John Estes

Chinese netizens' reactions to the New York Times story on Foxconn and Apple

The New York Times has compiled the reaction of Chinese netizens to the its recent expose of hazardous working conditions for Foxconn employees building iPad and iPhones for Apple in China, as published on the Caixin and Weibo websites. Here are a few highlights of the translated comments:

It’s ridiculous that the local government is trying to promote the city’s image while horrible accidents are still happening like this. If what is prohibited in the U.S. is highly protected here by the local authorities, we will never be treated with dignity. — 安吉丽娜朱莉的男朋友

By the way, construction workers and farmers are also living a harsh life in China, shall we also boycott housing and grains? — Zhou Zhimei

Without Apple, Chinese workers will be worse off. I hope China can some day soon have dozens of its own companies like Apple, who (only) work on high-end research and development and send manufacturing lines to Africa. — Anonymous

Even though Apple should be ethically condemned, the key point is: whether the working conditions inside the factories are supervised by law. This (supervision) is the duty of judicial officers and labor unions. Now everything is driven only by G.D.P., so which government official would dare supervise those companies? They (the governments) have long reduced themselves to the servant of the giant enterprises. — Occasional Think

If people saw what kind of life workers lived before they found a job at Foxconn, they would come to an opposite conclusion of this story: that Apple is such a philanthropist. — Zhengchu1982

If Foxconn were to abide by the labor law, which is supposed to protect workers and keep them basically to 8 hours a day and 5 days a week, their wages will be lower. If workers establish a formal labor union, lots of workers will be disappointed and return home to rural areas. The production cost of Chinese manufacturers will increase, and those Chinese factories will lose their competitive advantage. Who would be happy if that really happened? — 野也果酱

If the story is simply blaming Apple and Foxconn, then it is simplifying the problem. Other companies including HTC, Lenovo, HP and Sony, and their OEM (original equipment manufacturer) companies such as Wistron, Quanta and Inventec, share the same situation. Workers of small OEM enterprises are working in even harsher environments and having more overtime. The root is that they are unable to reach a higher position in the industry chain. Also, there are no effective labor organizations in those factories and the government tends to shield huge companies because of their profits. — Freestyle-coming

When the explosion happened, I was working for media in Chengdu. Domestic media were all silenced and only allowed to use the (Xinhua) official report, because that (Foxconn factory) was a key project. Compare to what The New York Times wrote, the gap really saddened my heart. — Chen Qiye

Russia has a small problem

As reported by The Guardian:

Russian police don't take kindly to opposition protesters – even if they're 5cm high and made of plastic.

Police in the Siberian city of Barnaul have asked prosecutors to investigate the legality of a recent protest that saw dozens of small dolls – teddy bears, Lego men, South Park figurines – arranged to mimic a protest, complete with signs reading: "I'm for clean elections" and "A thief should sit in jail, not in the Kremlin".

"Political opposition forces are using new technologies to carry out public events – using toys with placards at mini-protests," Andrei Mulintsev, the city's deputy police chief, said at a press conference this week, according to local media. "In our opinion, this is still an unsanctioned public event."

Story continues.

Alison Krauss & Union Station - Foolish Heart

Who Is Sheldon Adelson, the Newt Gingrich Super PAC Billionaire Backer?

That's the question that The Atlantic asks today on its website.

Here are a few sentences from the article that you may want to take note of:

• He's a union-buster. Some of Adelson's bitterest political battles have been fought in his adopted home state against the forces of organized labor, which has a strong foothold in the casino industry. The Venetian opened in 1999 as the only non-union casino on the Strip and has been the target of protest from the hotel workers union, Culinary 226, ever since.
• He spent $30 million on the 2008 election. It didn't work out so well. Adelson poured the money into Freedom's Watch, a "527" independent-expenditure group that was active in congressional races, airing ads across the country that emphasized national security.
• He's a Zionist/neocon/right-wing Israel hawk. Much of Adelson's political activity is devoted to boosting the right-wing Israeli line, both in Israel and the U.S. He donated a posh new headquarters to AIPAC, the Israel lobby in Washington, though he reportedly feuded with the organization over activities he saw as unduly pro-Palestinian.

Full story.

The Foxconn Jungle, otherwise known as Apple in China

Reports about Apple's behavior in China, conducted by way of its Taiwanese intermediaries at Foxconn, have been coming out for a number of years now. But perhaps none were as damning as the monster New York Times article that was just published. A few key allegations should be highlighted.

1) While Apple has been tediously slow to enforce its own worker guidelines at Foxconn, the leading supplier for iPad and iPhone assembly, lives have been needlessly lost.

"Two years ago, 137 workers at an Apple supplier in eastern China were injured after they were ordered to use a poisonous chemical to clean iPhone screens. Within seven months last year, two explosions at iPad factories, including in Chengdu, killed four people and injured 77. Before those blasts, Apple had been alerted to hazardous conditions inside the Chengdu plant, according to a Chinese group that published that warning."

2) While workers have been toiling at 72-hour work weeks, sometimes at less than Chinese minimum wage, Apple has posted record profits.

"Tuesday, Apple reported one of the most lucrative quarters of any corporation in history, with $13.06 billion in profits on $46.3 billion in sales."

3) Apple's complicity in Foxconn's abuse of its workers has not been incidental.

"We’ve known about labor abuses in some factories for four years, and they’re still going on,' said one former Apple executive who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of confidentiality agreements. 'Why? Because the system works for us. Suppliers would change everything tomorrow if Apple told them they didn’t have another choice... If half of iPhones were malfunctioning, do you think Apple would let it go on for four years?'"

4) Steve Jobs sought to mislead the public about the actual conditions at Foxconn (well-documented by Apple, which has regular audits) telling attendees at a conference, "I mean, you go to this place, and, it’s a factory, but, my gosh, I mean, they’ve got restaurants and movie theaters and hospitals and swimming pools, and I mean, for a factory, it’s a pretty nice factory."

Leonard Cohen: "Democracy" (live in London)

Gingrich’s futile effort to deny he was a lobbyist | The Washington Post

...Moreover, there is plenty of evidence of direct lobbying contacts by Gingrich himself. The Romney camp is going to town on Gingrich’s evasions, sending out a release that reads in part:

Republican Members Of Congress Say Gingrich Was A Lobbyist:

Former Rep. Jeb Bradley: “Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich says he was never a lobbyist. But three US representatives, including former New Hampshire Representative Jeb Bradley, have said Gingrich did in fact lobby them – whether he met the technical definition of a lobbyist or not. Bradley told the Globe that he remembers Gingrich, in 2003, advocating in favor of the legislation that created the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit before a group of around 10 members of Congress.” (Shira Schoenberg, “Newt Gingrich Denies That His 2003 Advocacy For Medicare Expansion Was Lobbying,” Boston Globe, 12/28/11)

Rep. Jeff Flake And Former Rep. Butch Otter: “Today, the Des Moines Register reported that US Representative Jeff Flake of Arizona and former Representative Butch Otter of Idaho said Gingrich lobbied them in 2003 to vote for the Medicare prescription drug benefit program.” (Shira Schoenberg, “Newt Gingrich Denies That His 2003 Advocacy For Medicare Expansion Was Lobbying,” Boston Globe, 12/28/11)

Former Rep. Marilyn Musgrave: “Former Colorado Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, now a director at the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List, said Gingrich called her at the height of the 2003 debate urging her to vote for the bill. ‘Newt called me to vote yes,’ Musgrave told CNN by phone on Wednesday. ‘He asked for a yes vote on a Medicare prescription drug benefit,’ she said.” (Peter Hamby, “Gingrich Urged Yes Vote On Controversial Medicare Bill, Former Congresswoman Says,” CNN, 12/28/11)

 

via www.washingtonpost.com

See also: Newt Gingrich was not a lobbyist and other deceptions

Han Han: My 2011 | ChinaHush

The extreme idealist who’s escaped reality isn’t necessarily too different from the reality of an authoritarian dictator. In fact they’re from the same stock. It’s just that they’re holding different flags. It isn’t impossible to become the person who once disgusted you.

So I don’t wish to become anything else but when it comes to my work, I will act according to the constitution: I will never stop demanding. Lying, sitting, standing, walking, writing, speaking, I will continue to demand and demand until you want to escape from me.

via www.chinahush.com

Gingrich Used Payroll Tax Ploy Often Attacked By IRS | Forbes

Newt Gingrich avoided tens of thousands of dollars in Medicare payroll taxes in 2010 by using a technique the Internal Revenue Service has consistently and successfully attacked.  Republican Presidential candidate Gingrich and his wife, Callista, treated only $444,327 of what they got from Gingrich Holdings. Inc. and Gingrich Productions as compensation to them, while reporting a whopping $2.4 million of their earnings from these corporations as profits or dividends.

story continues www.forbes.com

Newt Gingrich was not a lobbyist and other deceptions

Newt Gingrich was not a lobbyist, but he was working on K Street.

Newt Gingrich was not a lobbyist, even though the head of lobbying at Freddie Mac signed a $300,000/year retainer contract for services provided by the Gingrich Group.

Newt Gingrich was not a lobbyist, just someone who was promoting legislation on behalf of paid corporate clients but avoided registering as a lobbyist because 12 years ago (or more) he was planning his campaign for the presidency.

Newt Gingrich was not a lobbyist, just someone running "four small businesses" that never got involved in influence peddling.

Newt Gingrich was not a lobbyist, just someone who sent out constant "Newtgram" emails outlining his views on health care reform on behalf of paid clients in the health care industry.

Newt Gingrich was not a lobbyist, and thus his departure from "American Solutions for Winning the Future" had nothing to do with the group being evicted 6 months later from its K Street office for failure to pay the rent- it was not his influence peddling that made the group.

Newt Gingrich was not a lobbyist, just a soup promoter.

Newt Gingrich was not a lobbyist, just a $300,000/year consultant on ethanol issues, which he took a particular interest in.

Newt Ginrich was not a lobbyist, just someone who liked to walk around Capitol Hill and discuss Medicare while representing clients who had a stake.

Newt Gingrich was not a lobbyist, and the $2 million his American Solutions nonprofit took in from pro-drilling and coal groups after he flipflopped on cap-and-trade was just a coincidence.

Newt Gingrich was not a lobbyist, and when he told Fox News: "I never favored cap-and-trade and actively testified against it. Through American Solutions ... we played a major role in defeating it"... he did not mean he was lobbying.

Newt Gingrich was not a lobbyist, just someone who composed sample legislation for the deregulation of the health care industry while taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from companies like BlueCross BlueShield and United Health because it was his hobby.

Newt Gingrich was not a lobbyist, and did not- during any of his discussions with the Republican House whip- do anything that might be construed as lobbying for his corporate clients.

Newt Gingrich was not a lobbyist, just someone who brought corporate clients down to the Florida state capitol to serve on policy panels and asked Georgia's government to buy specific services from his clients and arranged joint meetings with federal officals for his member companies because it was "his vision"... not his clients!

Newt Gingrich is not a lobbyist. Newt Gingrich is not a liar. But he does have sex with vending machines.

-----

lobbyist (someone who is employed to persuade legislators to vote for legislation that favors the lobbyist's employer)