#Senator Amy Klobuchar | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

schraubd · 2 days

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Antisemitism in Oregon Minnesota and Beyond

I'm heading to Eugene tomorrow to do two events on antisemitism and Islamophobia at the University of Oregon (one Wednesday evening, one Thursday morning). Both events will be with Hussein Ibish, someone who I've long admired and am thrilled to collaborate with on this endeavor. So what's going on in the antisemitic America this week? Well, the Minnesota GOP is trying to nominate Royce White to take Amy Klobuchar's Senate seat, in spite (or because) of him criticizing "the Jewish elite" and claiming that Jews use the Holocaust "to provide a victimhood cover for their own corrupt practices." It will shock no one to learn he is a Kanye West defender ("They called Kanye West antisemitic because he was pushing a Black Republican or Conservative message wrapped in the gospel."). And while sometimes the story of these far-right antisemitic GOP pols is that they decide to merge hating Jews with loving Israel, White is very much a hater of both: Israel is, he says, "the lynchpin of the New World Order." In general, while there's a lot more antisemitism in today's GOP than many give it, er, credit for, Minnesota really does seem to stand out from the pack for the regularity with which antisemites emerge as top-level Republican politicos. That said, while I think White is DOA against Klobuchar (who has throttled far more serious opponents than he), I am very idly curious to see whether he makes inroads amongst the "uncommitted" cadre that (unlike in some states) did seem to perform disproportionately well against Biden in Minnesota. I think the lefty complaint "Biden is worse than Trump on Israel" (or even "Biden and Trump are the same on Israel") is wildly off-base, it is actually arguable that if your only criteria is "who hates Israel the most", White is "better" than Klobuchar. For people looking for a permission structure, White's status as an African-American man who led racial justice protests in the wake of the George Floyd murder certainly helps. Moreover, the Muslim community in America is not as liberal as people sometimes think, and if there is a contingent of, say, the Somali Muslim community in Minnesota that is really committed to Palestine uber alles, well, this race arguably presents a genuinely interesting choice. Again, I think that Klobuchar will win quite handily. But it wouldn't surprise me if there were some inroads in communities where Republicans historically have struggled. As I've said before, antisemitism is a major growth opportunity for the GOP in minority communities (not because minorities are especially antisemitic, but because minorities most likely to defect to the GOP are in fact disproportionately prone to be antisemitic), and by accident or intentionally they're starting to realize it. Oh, and Donald Trump is promising a "unified Reich" if he's elected. So there's that too. via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/IFyCKEH

#Amy Klobuchar #anti-semitism #Donald Trump #Minnesota #Royce White #Senate

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 1 year

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For decades now, Ticketmaster has engendered bad blood from concertgoers angry over its fees but has managed to shake it off, growing into the largest ticketing company in America. But after crossing Taylor Swift fans, parent company Live Nation faced a Senate panel Tuesday intent on getting the company to admit, “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me.”

Live Nation drew the ire of thousands of Swift fans in the fall, after its website crashed when tickets for Swift’s “Eras” tour went on sale. Swifties also decried huge swings in the tickets’ prices and painfully long wait times. A similar debacle afflicted ticket sales for a Bad Bunny concert in Mexico City. As Swift apologized to fans, Congress swore to hold hearings, and on Tuesday the Senate Judiciary Committee held the first.

Ticketmaster merged with Live Nation, a concert venue and promotions company, in 2010, creating a live events behemoth that controls nearly every aspect of putting on a show short of the singing and dancing. On Tuesday, Senators criticized how that vertical integration created a market-dominating powerhouse with little concern for average fans.

“In an ode to Taylor Swift, I will say, ‘We know all too well,’” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who chairs the Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust and Consumer Rights. “Live Nation doesn’t just dominate the ticketing — about 70% of the big concert market — but also they own many of the major venues, and for the venues that they don’t own, they tend to lock in on three-, five-, seven-year agreements, which means that the competitors that are out there aren’t able to even compete when it comes to the ticketing.”

Subcommittee ranking member Mike Lee, R-Utah, also couldn’t resist the siren’s call of a Swift allusion, prefacing his remarks by thanking Klobuchar for pushing for the hearing. “I had hoped, as of a few months ago, to get the chair back,” he said. “But once again, ‘she’s cheer captain and I’m on the bleachers.’”

The business of hosting, promoting, and selling tickets to concerts and other live events — Ticketmaster dominates pro sports ticketing, as well — is an odd one. According to the Los Angeles Times, Ticketmaster controls nearly 80% of the ticket market in the U.S., bringing in $750 million in annual profits. It seems like just a middleman between the musician and the concertgoer. But Ticketmaster’s real customers aren’t fans — who have little choice in how to buy their tickets — but the venues (often owned by Live Nation) and the musicians. And as some of those customers, including Garth Brooks and the Atlanta Braves, attested in written testimony, Ticketmaster has treated them extremely well.

“What I witnessed [working with Ticketmaster] was a true concern and care for ticket buyers,” wrote Brooks.

As some of Swift’s exes can attest, a tongue lashing may sting in the moment but leaves few lasting scars. Live Nation and Ticketmaster have a long history of essentially selling themselves as the bad guy to the public, allowing bands and arenas to scapegoat the company for their own greedy pricing decisions. Tuesday was more of the same, albeit under the glare of a congressional spotlight.

“Primary ticketing companies, including Ticketmaster, do not set ticket prices. We do not decide how many tickets go on sale and when. And we do not set service fees. Pricing and distribution strategies are determined by artists and their teams. Service fees, even if called ticketing fees, are retained mainly by venues,” said Live Nation President Joe Berchtold.

Berchtold does face a more tangible risk than just the verbal berating he received, however, if the Senators decide to do more than take advantage of the extra media attention to get themselves on TV and instead turn to legislating.

After nearly 50 years of Congress and the courts endorsing a laissez-faire approach to the antitrust regime, one ostensibly couched in terms of maximizing consumer welfare by permitting efficiency-driving mergers, members of both parties now are questioning the concentration of corporate power that has resulted. President Joe Biden’s picks to run the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division — Lina Khan and Jonathan Kanter, respectively — have been far more aggressive in challenging mergers and enforcing consent decrees than their predecessors from both Republican and Democratic administrations.

As part of the 2010 merger, Live Nation entered a consent decree with the DOJ to refrain from retaliating against musicians who didn’t use its venues and pay $1 million for each violation. The DOJ and Live Nation extended that decree in 2020. The DOJ also reportedly opened a separate investigation into Live Nation in November, following the Swift ticket fiasco.

In recent years, bipartisan legislation aimed at creating a more hawkish competition policy has been brewing in both chambers, with Klobuchar working closely with Lee and Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa. Congress passed a bill last year increasing the fees that large companies proposing mergers must pay, but more aggressive measures did not reach the president’s desk. Similar bills passed the House last year but ran out of time in the Senate, despite Grassley’s insistence that they had enough Republican votes to defeat a filibuster.

The hopes of passing stronger antitrust laws dimmed after the midterm elections. While some Republicans, including deeply conservative House Freedom Caucus members like Ken Buck of Colorado, support tougher measures, most of the party remains skeptical, including House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio and Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California.

COMPETITORS PILE ON

Live Nation’s competitors seized their chance to pile on Tuesday, calling for its breakup. “As long as Live Nation remains both the dominant concert promoter and ticketer of major venues in the U.S., the industry will continue to lack competition and struggle,” said Jack Groetzinger, CEO of SeatGeek, a ticketing company.

“Pepsi doesn’t earn money from Coke, but our competitor, Live Nation, makes money from selling tickets to our concerts,” said Jerry Mickelson, CEO of Jam Productions, which runs concert venues in Chicago. Mickelson described how Live Nation used its market dominance to push his company out of the arena concert business using allegedly monopolistic tactics.

Antitrust policy fans hoping the hearing might draw Swift’s star power had to settle for Clyde Lawrence, singer for the band Lawrence, which included the lyric “Live Nation is a monopoly” on one of its latest releases.

Lawrence countered some of Live Nation’s claims of being just an agent of the artists, alleging the company dictates fees and terms for smaller acts like them — in effect, creating a two-tier system for musicians in which smaller bands can’t negotiate the way bigger acts can.

Bands set the ticket price while the venues set the fees, Berchtold said in response. That didn’t sit well with Judiciary Chair Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill.

“You control the venue, do you not?” he asked.

Ticketmaster’s practices have long irked fans and bands alike. Pearl Jam launched a campaign against Ticketmaster in the ’90s, testifying before a House panel against the company’s price-stoking strategies.

Not every Senator on Tuesday’s panel joined in the Ticketmaster bashing. Louisiana Republican John Kennedy rolled his eyes at the witnesses attacking the company’s practices. “If you care about the consumer, cap the price, cut out the bots, cut out the middle people,” said Kennedy. “And if you really care about the consumer, give the consumer a break. Not every kid can afford, whatever it is, $500 to see Taylor Swift.”

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kaydub80 · 2 years

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As some of the replies to the tweet point out, the Senate knew exactly what it was doing. Fuck them all.

Yesterday marked exactly two years since George Floyd was killed in broad daylight. Instead of any meaningful reform or efforts to move away from militarized police and police brutality, the debate among lawmakers at all levels is how much more money to give to the police as if we just didn't see how useless the police in Uvlade, Texas were.

I'm at a loss on how to properly address the lack of progress because it looks like my initial instincts to avoid social media at the end of May 2020 were correct since a plurality of the white population is back to pre-George Floyd attitudes on race.

#justice for george floyd #george floyd #defund the police #amy klobuchar #militarized police #senate

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titleknown · 1 year

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So, while I've talked about this in other posts, I figured I may as well compile it in one post with this nifty propaganda poster (more on that later)

Long story short, they're bringing back KOSA/the Kids Online Safety Act in the US Senate, and they're going to mark it up next Thursday as of the time of this post (4/23/2023).

If you don’t know, long story short KOSA is a bill that’s ostensibly one of those “Protect the Children” bills, but what it’s actually going to do is more or less require you to scan your fucking face every time you want to go on a website; or give away similarly privacy-violating information like your drivers’ license or credit card info.

Either that or force them to censor anything that could even remotely be considered not “kid friendly.” Not to mention fundies are openly saying they’re gonna use this to hurt trans kids. Which is, uh, real fucking bad.

As per usual, I urge you to contact your congresscritters, and especially those on the Commerce Committee, who'll likely be the ones marking it up.

Those senators are:

Maria Cantwell, Washington, Chair

Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota

Brian Schatz, Hawaii

Ed Markey, Massachusetts

Gary Peters, Michigan

Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin

Tammy Duckworth, Illinois

Jon Tester, Montana

Kyrsten Sinema, Arizona

Jacky Rosen, Nevada

Ben Ray Luján, New Mexico

John Hickenlooper, Colorado

Raphael Warnock, Georgia

Peter Welch, Vermont

Ted Cruz, Texas, Ranking Member

John Thune, South Dakota

Roger Wicker, Mississippi

Deb Fischer, Nebraska

Jerry Moran, Kansas

Dan Sullivan, Alaska

Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee

Todd Young, Indiana

Ted Budd, North Carolina

Eric Schmitt, Missouri

J.D. Vance, Ohio

Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia

Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming

Again, it doesn't work unless you do it en-masse, so make sure to call ASAP and tell them to kill this bill, and if they actually want a bill to allow/get sites to protect kids, the Federal Fair Access To Banking Act would be far better.

Also, this poster is officially, for the sake of spreading it, under a CC0 license. Feel free to spread it, remix it, add links to the bottom, edit it to be about the other bad internet bills they're pushing, use it as a meme format, do what you will but for gods' sake get the word out!

Also, shoutout to @o-hybridity for coming up with the slogan for the poster, couldn't have done it without 'em!

#poster #cc0 #creative commons #internet censorship #internet freedom #us politics #american politics #KOSA #kids online safety act #censorship #scary

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reasonsforhope · 21 days

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Yesterday [April 30, 2024], a bipartisan collection of US Senators introduced the Fans First Act, which would help address flaws in the current live event ticketing system by increasing transparency in ticket sales, and protecting consumers from fake or dramatically overpriced tickets.

Today, the artists and Congressmen allege, buying a ticket to a concert or sporting event requires negotiating a minefield of predatory practices, such as speculative ticket buying and the use of automated programs to buy large numbers of tickets for resale at inflated prices.

The legislation would ban such practices, and include provisions for guaranteed refunds in the event of a cancellation.

The political campaign organizers, calling themselves “Fix the Tix” write that included among the supporters of the legislation is a coalition of live event industry organizations and professionals, who have formed to advocate on behalf of concertgoers.

This includes a steering committee led by Eventbrite [Note: lol, I'm assuming Eventbrite just signed on to undermine Ticketmaster and for PR purposes] and the National Independent Value Association that’s supported by dozens of artistic unions, independent ticket sellers, and of course, over 250 artists and bands, including Billie Eilish, Dave Matthews, Cyndi Lauper, Lorde, Sia, Train, Fall Out Boy, Green Day, and hundreds more which you can read here.

“Buying a ticket to see your favorite artist or team is out of reach for too many Americans,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).

“Bots, hidden fees, and predatory practices are hurting consumers whether they want to catch a home game, an up-and-coming artist, or a major headliner like Taylor Swift or Bad Bunny. From ensuring fans get refunds for canceled shows to banning speculative ticket sales, this bipartisan legislation will improve the ticketing experience.”

Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Roger Wicker (R-MS), John Cornyn (R-TX) and Peter Welch (D-VT) also signed on to the Fan First Act.

In the House, parallel legislation was just passed through committee 45-0.

[Note: That's a really good sign. That kind of bipartisan support is basically unheard of these days, and rare even before that. This is strong enough that it's half the reason I'm posting this article - normally I wait until bills are passed, but this plus parallel legislation with such bipartisan cosponsors in the senate makes me think there's a very real chance this will pass and become law by the end of 2024.]

“We would like to thank our colleagues, both on and off committee, for their collaboration. This bipartisan achievement is the result of months and years of hard work by Members on both sides of the aisle,” said the chairs and subchairs of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

“Our committee will continue to lead the way on this effort as we further our work to bring this solution to the House floor.”

“The relationship between artist and fan, which forms the backbone of the entire music industry, is severed,” the artists write. “When predatory resellers scoop up face value tickets in order to resell them at inflated prices on secondary markets, artists lose the ability to connect with their fans who can’t afford to attend.”

-via Good News Network, May 1, 2024

#music #concert #performance #live music #live performance #music industry #ticketmaster #eventbrite #concerts #concert tickets #united states #legislation #us politics #good news #hope

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tertu-m · 2 years

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literally striking down Roe was a 5-4 decision. had RBG retired during the Obama presidency it may have not happened. had Obama done his garland appointment the whole fucking thing could have not happened. if you are going to talk to me about voting simply do not i have voted in every election i could

#also the only democrat i remember not voting for was Current Sitting US Senator Amy Klobuchar

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don-lichterman · 2 years

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Tech antitrust backers and opponents clash in media

As a tough antitrust bill aimed at clipping Big Tech’s wings gains headway in Congress, supporters and opponents are battling in the media, hoping to sway the public. Driving the news: John Oliver devoted an entire segment to Big Tech and pending antitrust bills in Congress on Sunday night on his HBO show, “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.” A YouTube video of Oliver’s antitrust segment has so…

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#Amazon #Amy Klobuchar #Antitrust #Apple #Backers #clash #Congress #Google #House Judiciary Committee #John Oliver #media #Meta (company)#News media #Opponents #Senate Judiciary Committee #Tech

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mostlysignssomeportents · 23 days

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Live Nation/Ticketmaster is buying Congress

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me THURSDAY (May 2) in WINNIPEG, then Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), Tartu, Estonia, and beyond!

Anything that can't go on forever eventually stops. Monopolies are intrinsically destabilizing and inevitably implode…eventually. Guessing which of the loathesome monopolies that make us all miserable will be the first domino is a hard call, but Ticketmaster is definitely high on my list.

It's not that event tickets are the most consequential aspect of our lives. The monopolies over pharma, fuel, finance, tech, and even beer are all more important to our day-to-day. But while Ticketmaster – and its many ramified tentacles, like Live Nation – may not be the most destructive monopoly in our world, but it pisses off people with giant megaphones and armies of rabid fans.

It's been a minute since Ticketmaster was last in the news, so let's recap. Ticketmaster bought out most of its ticketing rivals, then merged with Live Nation, the country's largest concert promoter, and bought out many of the country's largest music, stage and sports venues. They used this iron grip on the entire supply chain for performances and events to pile innumerable junk fees on every ticket sold, while drastically eroding the wages of the creative workers they nominally represented. They created a secret secondary market for tickets and worked with ticket-touts to help them run bots that bought every ticket within an instant of the opening of ticket sales, then ran an auction marketplace that made them gigantic fees on every re-sold ticket – fees the performers were not entitled to share in.

The Ticketmaster/Live Nation/venue octopus is nearly impossible to escape. Independent venues can't book Live Nation acts unless they use Ticketmaster for their tickets. Acts can't get into the large venues owned by Ticketmaster unless they sign up to have Live Nation book their tour. And when Ticketmaster buys a venue, it creams off the most successful acts, starving competing venues of blockbuster shows. They also illegally colluded with their vendors to jack up the price of concerts across the board:

https://pascrell.house.gov/uploadedfiles/ful.pdf

When Rebecca Giblin and I were writing Chokepoint Capitalism, our book about how tech and entertainment monopolies impoverish all kinds of creative workers, we were able to get insiders to go on record about every kind of monopoly, from the labels to Spotify, Kindle to the Big Five publishers and the Google-Meta ad-tech duopoly. The only exception was Ticketmaster/Live Nation: everyone involved in live performance – performers, bookers, club owners – was palpably terrified about speaking out on the record about the conglomerate:

https://chokepointcapitalism.com/

No wonder. The company has a long and notorious history of using its market power to ruin anyone who challenges it. Remember Pearl Jam?

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/pearl-jam-taking-on-ticketmaster-67440/

But anything that can't go on forever eventually stops. Not only is Ticketmaster a rapacious, vindictive monopolist – it's also an incompetent monopolist, whose IT systems are optimized for rent-extraction first, with ticket sales as a distant afterthought. This is bad no matter which artist it effects, but when Ticketmaster totally, utterly fucked up Taylor Swift's first post-lockdown tour, they incurred the wrath of the Swifties:

https://www.vox.com/culture/2022/11/21/23471763/taylor-swift-ticketmaster-monopoly

All of which explains why I've always given good odds that Ticketmaster would be first up against the wall come the antitrust revolution. It may not be the most destructive monopolist, but it is absurdly evil, and the people who hate it most are the most famous and beloved artists in the country.

For a while, it looked like I was right. Ticketmaster's colossal Taylor Swift fuckup prompted Senator Amy Klobuchar – a leading antitrust crusader – to hold hearings on the company's conduct, and led to the introduction of a raft of bills to rein in predatory ticketing practices. But as David Dayen writes for The American Prospect, Ticketmaster/Live Nation is spreading a fortune around on the Hill, hiring a deep bench of ex-Congressmen and ex-senior staffers (including Klobuchar's former chief of staff) and they've found a way to create the appearance of justice without having to suffer any consequences for their decades-long campaign of fraud and abuse:

https://prospect.org/power/2024-04-30-live-nation-strikes-up-band-washington/

Dayen opens his article with the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which is always bracketed by a week's worth of lavish parties for Congress and hill staffers. One of the fanciest of these parties was thrown by Axios – and sponsored by Live Nation, with a performance by Jelly Roll (whose touring contract is owned by Live Nation). Attendees at the Axios/Live Nation event were bombarded with messages about the essential goodness of Live Nation (they were even printed on the cocktail napkins) and exhortations to support the Fans First Act, co-sponsored by Klobuchar and Sen John Cornyn (R-TX):

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/arts/music/fans-first-act-ticket-bill.html

Ticketmaster/Live Nation loves the Fans First Act, because – unlike other bills – it focuses primarily on the secondary market for tickets, and its main measure is a requirement for ticketing companies to disclose their junk fees upfront. Neither of these represents a major challenge to Ticketmaster/Live Nation's control over the market, which gives it the ability to slash performers' wages while jacking up prices for fans.

Fans First represents the triumph of Ticketmaster/Live Nation's media strategy, which is to blame the entire problem on bottom-feeding ticket-touts (who are mostly scum!) instead of on the single monopoly that controls the entire industry and can't stop committing financial crimes.

Axios isn't Live Nation's only partner in selling this distraction tactic. Over the past five years, the company has flushed gigantic sums of money through Washington. Its lobbying spend rose from $240k in 2018 to $1.1m in 2022, and $2.38m in 2023:

https://thehill.com/business/4431886-live-nation-doubled-lobbying-spending-to-2-4m-in-2023-amid-antitrust-threat/

The company has 37 paid lobbyists selling Congress on its behalf. 25 of them are former congressional staffers. Two are former Congressmen: Ed Whitfield (R-KY), a 21 year veteran of the House, and Mark Pryor (D-AR), a two-term senator:

https://www.bhfs.com/people/attorneys/p-s/mark-pryor

But perhaps the most galling celebrant in this lavish hymn to Citizen United is Jonathan Becker, Amy Klobuchar's former chief of staff, who jumped ship to lobby Congress on behalf of monopolists like Live Nation, who paid him $120k last year to sell their story to the Hill:

https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/lobbyists?cycle=2023&id=D000053134

Not everyone hates Fans First: it's been endorsed by the Nix the Tix coalition, largely on the strength of its regulation of secondary ticket sales. But the largest secondary seller in America by far is Live Nation itself, with a $4.5b market in reselling the tickets it sold in the first place. Fans First shifts focus from this sleazy self-dealing to competitors like Stubhub.

Fans First can be seen as an opening salvo in the long war against Ticketmaster/Live Nation. But compared to more muscular bills – like Klobuchar's stalled-out Unlock Ticketing Markets Act, it's pretty weaksauce. The Unlocking act will "prevent exclusive contracts between ticketing services and venues" – hitting Ticketmaster/Live Nation where it hurts, right in the bank-account:

https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2023/4/following-senate-judiciary-committee-hearing-klobuchar-blumenthal-introduce-legislation-to-increase-competition-in-live-event-ticketing-markets

It's not all gloom. Dayen reports that Ticketmaster's active lobbying in favor of Fans First has made many in Congress more skeptical of the bill, not less. And Congress isn't the only – or even the best – way to smash Ticketmaster's criminal empire. That's something the DoJ's antitrust division could power through with a lot less exposure to the legalized bribery that dominates Congress.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/30/nix-fix-the-tix/#something-must-be-done-there-we-did-something

Image: Matt Biddulph (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/mbiddulph/13904063945/

CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Flying Logos (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Over_$1,000,000_dollars_in_USD_$100_bill_stacks.png

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

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soberscientistlife · 7 months

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The Senate will consider a rule change to stop Tommy Tuberville's block on military promotion. Senate Republicans are expected to support this rule change.

Rules Committee chair, Sen. Amy Klobuchar: "This vote in the Rules Committee will allow us to finally move forward with military confirmations, filling critical positions and protecting our military readiness."

It’s about damn time.

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minnesotafollower · 4 months

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Tony Oliva, Former Minnesota Twins Baseball Star, Finally Honored in Cuba

At a January 10, 2024, semifinal game of the Il Elite Cuba Baseball League in Havana, Tony Oliva, the former Minnesota Twins baseball star and a resident of Minnesota, was honored for the first time since he left Cuba in 1962. [1] The small number of fans present at that game reacted with reluctance to the announcement that the former star player was going to throw the first ball at that game…

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#Baseball Hall of Famer #Cuba #Juan Carlos Oliva #Minnesota Twins (baseball team)#Tony Oliva #U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar

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saydams · 2 months

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the usa senate passed the budget that banned all aid to UNRWA and Biden signed it.

the senators who voted for this budget (preventing usa from funding UNRWA) are under the readmore. if your senator is on this list, call (202) 224-3121 and demand they find another way of funding relief to palestine.

Tammy Baldwin Wis.

Richard Blumenthal Conn.

Cory Booker N.J.

John Boozman Ark.

Katie Britt Ala.

Sherrod Brown Ohio

Laphonza Butler Calif.

Maria Cantwell Wash.

S. Capito W.Va.

Benjamin L. Cardin Md.

Tom Carper Del.

Bob Casey Pa.

Bill Cassidy La.

Susan Collins Maine

Chris Coons Del.

John Cornyn Tex.

C. Cortez Masto Nev.

Tom Cotton Ark.

Kevin Cramer N.D.

Tammy Duckworth Ill.

Dick Durbin Ill.

Joni Ernst Iowa

John Fetterman Pa.

Deb Fischer Neb.

Kirsten Gillibrand N.Y.

Lindsey Graham S.C.

Chuck Grassley Iowa

M. Hassan N.H.

Martin Heinrich N.M.

John Hickenlooper Colo.

Mazie Hirono Hawaii

John Hoeven N.D.

Cindy Hyde-Smith Miss.

Tim Kaine Va.

Mark Kelly Ariz.

Angus King Maine

Amy Klobuchar Minn.

Ben Ray Luján N.M.

Joe Manchin III W.Va.

Edward J. Markey Mass.

Mitch McConnell Ky.

Robert Menendez N.J.

Jeff Merkley Ore.

Jerry Moran Kan.

Markwayne Mullin Okla.

Lisa Murkowski Alaska

Chris Murphy Conn.

Patty Murray Wash.

Jon Ossoff Ga.

Alex Padilla Calif.

Gary Peters Mich.

Jack Reed R.I.

Mitt Romney Utah

Jacky Rosen Nev.

Mike Rounds S.D.

Brian Schatz Hawaii

Charles E. Schumer N.Y.

Jeanne Shaheen N.H.

Kyrsten Sinema Ariz.

Tina Smith Minn.

Debbie Stabenow Mich.

Dan Sullivan Alaska

Jon Tester Mont.

John Thune S.D.

Thom Tillis N.C.

Chris Van Hollen Md.

Mark R. Warner Va.

Raphael G. Warnock Ga

Elizabeth Warren Mass.

Peter Welch Vt.

Sheldon Whitehouse R.I.

Roger Wicker Miss.

Ron Wyden Ore.

Todd Young Ind.

#usa politics #unwra #palestine #gaza #us politics

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 1 year

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Senate Republicans will try to block Feinstein's Judiciary replacement

THEIR OBJECTIONS COMPLICATE DEMOCRATS' PATH OUT OF THE JUDICIAL NOMINATION SLOWDOWN CAUSED BY THE CALIFORNIA SENATOR'S LENGTHY ABSENCE

By Liz Goodwin

A second Republican senator on the Judiciary Committee announced their opposition Monday to temporarily replacing Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on the panel, adding to Democrats’ woes over how to move forward on stalled judicial nominations caused by Feinstein’s health-related absence.

Feinstein, who at 89 is the oldest member of the Senate, announced last week that she had asked Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) to temporarily replace her on the Senate Judiciary Committee. That followed calls from some congressional Democrats for Feinstein, who has been absent from the chamber since February, to resign from the Senate.

Her absence has stalled confirmations of President Biden’s judicial nominees, given that only judges with some Republican support can move to the floor without her tiebreaking vote on the committee. She has provided no timeline for her return to Washington after recovering from a case of shingles. The Senate is narrowly divided and under Democratic control, 51-49.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) announced on Twitter on Monday that she would “not go along with Chuck Schumer’s plan to replace Senator Feinstein on the Judiciary Committee and pack the court with activist judges.”

She joins Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a close ally of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), in publicly announcing she will not support a temporary replacement for Feinstein.

Their objections add up to a major headache for Democrats, who were hoping to quickly solve the political and tactical problem of Feinstein this week by replacing her on the committee. Most committee assignments for both Republicans and Democrats are passed without fanfare or controversy by unanimous voice votes on the Senate floor. But now with Republicans lining up to object to the temporary change, it’s clear replacing Feinstein on the committee would take 60 votes to approve, which means at least 10 Republicans would need to back the measure.

Feinstein’s absence has given Republicans leverage to block judicial nominees even while they’re in the minority. That makes it less likely there will be 10 Republicans willing to cross the aisle and help Democrats temporarily replace her.

McConnell, who as Senate majority leader blocked President Barack Obama from filling a Supreme Court vacancy in 2016, has not yet commented on his view of the replacement.

Cotton shared an article in the conservative publication The Federalist in announcing his objection to temporarily replacing Feinstein, noting that “the task of persuading 10 Republicans to cooperate with the President’s judicial agenda will prove even more difficult if Sen. Mitch McConnell … holds the line.” The article praised McConnell for his “hard-nosed judiciary tactics” in the past.

On Monday, Schumer said he spoke to Feinstein a few days ago and that she’s “very hopeful” she will return to Washington soon. Schumer said he would discuss with his caucus which Senator he would put forward to replace Feinstein.

“We should have a temporary replacement until she returns and we’re hopeful Republicans will join us on that,” he said, adding that he planned to bring the matter to the floor this week. “It’s the only right and fair thing to do.”

If Schumer’s attempt to replace Feinstein fails this week, calls for her resignation on the left may grow. Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) asked Feinstein to step down last week, citing her long absence. Feinstein was hospitalized in March for treatment of shingles, and she has missed at least 60 votes this year.

“While she has had a lifetime of public service, it is obvious she can no longer fulfill her duties. Not speaking out undermines our credibility as elected representatives of the people,” Khanna said. Feinstein announced she would not run for reelection earlier this year.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), another member of the Judiciary Committee, said Sunday she plans to take Feinstein “at her word” that she hopes to return to Washington soon, but that if her absence stretches on for “months,” it is time to rethink the situation.

“If this goes on month after month after month, then she’s gonna have to make a decision with her family and her friends about what her future holds, because this isn’t just about California; it’s also about the nation,” Klobuchar said on ABC’s “This Week.” “So it’s going to become an issue as the months go by. But I’m taking her at her word that she’s going to return.”

Other lawmakers have defended Feinstein, with Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) telling reporters it was “interesting” to see the resignation calls. “I don’t know what political agendas are at work that are going after Sen. Feinstein in that way,” she said last week. “I’ve never seen them go after a man who was sick in the Senate in that way.”

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mariacallous · 2 months

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The US Department of Justice had long been expected to file an antitrust lawsuit against Apple. But when the suit arrived Thursday, it came with surprising ferocity.

In a press conference, attorney general Merrick Garland noted that Apple controlled more than 70 percent of the country’s smartphone market, saying the company used that outsize power to control developers and consumers and squeeze more revenue out of them.

The suit and messaging from the DOJ and 15 states and the District of Columbia joining it take aim at Apple’s most prized asset—the iPhone—and position the case as a fight for the future of technology. The suit argues that Apple rose to its current power thanks in part to the 1998 antitrust case against Microsoft, and that another milestone antitrust correction is needed to allow future innovation to continue.

Like the Microsoft case, the suit against Apple is “really dynamic and forward looking,” says John Newman, a law professor at the University of Miami. “It's not necessarily about Apple seeing direct competitors,” he says. “It's more about them trying to grab the territory you would need if you were going to even try to compete against Apple.”

Antitrust action in the tech industry has been a focus of the Biden administration’s agenda, which has seen suits brought against both Amazon and Google by the DOJ and the Federal Trade Commission. “This case demonstrates why we must reinvigorate competition policy and establish clear rules of the road for Big Tech platforms,” Democratic senator Amy Klobuchar told WIRED in a statement.

Rebecca Hall Allensworth, a law professor at Vanderbilt University, says that though the government almost always faces an uphill battle in antitrust cases, the Apple case appears relatively solid. “It's a lot stronger than the FTC Amazon monopolization lawsuit from last year,” she says. “And yet, it's very hard to win antitrust cases.”

In a statement, Apple spokesperson Fred Sainz said that the lawsuit “threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets,” including the way its products work “seamlessly” together and “protect people’s privacy and security.”

Apple has long argued that keeping its mobile operating system, app store, and other services closed offers greater security and safety for customers. But Newman says that the DOJ complaint indicates that Apple doesn't enforce these policies consistently as would make sense if the goal was to protect users.

“Instead [Apple] heavily targets the types of app developers that pose the biggest competitive threat to Apple,” Newman says. The DOJ alleges that restrictions Apple places on iMessage, Apple Wallet, and other products and features create barriers that deter or even penalize people who may switch to cheaper options.

History Repeating

The antitrust case against Microsoft in the late 1990s accused the company of illegally forcing PC manufacturers and others to favor its web browser Internet Explorer. It is widely credited with causing the company to be slow to embrace the web, falling behind a wave of startups including Google and Amazon that grew into giants by making web services useful and lucrative.

When asked about the threat the new antitrust lawsuit might pose to Apple’s business, a DOJ official noted that “there are actually examples where companies, after having been charged and had to change business practices because they violated the antitrust laws in the long run, end up being more valuable than they were before.” Microsoft, thanks to its success in cloud services and more recently AI, is now the most valuable company in the world.

The Department of Justice said Thursday that any potential remedy was on the table for Apple—implying that even breaking up the company is a possibility. But Allensworth says it is unlikely the government would pursue that outcome. The proposed remedies could more likely force Apple to change its "technological and contractual restrictions on app development, and on interoperability with other phones,” she says. “That is something that could be very meaningful, if that remedy were fully realized and overseen in a good way. But it still leaves Apple basically in control of the ecosystem,” Allensworth says.

Paul Swanson, antitrust partner at the law firm Holland & Hart, sees potential difficulties ahead for the suit. “They're alleging that Apple is excluding competition in the smartphone market by making their products stickier, by making it very attractive to stay within their ecosystem. And the way that Apple does that, according to the DOJ, is that it doesn't cooperate nicely with other companies,” he says. But Swanson says antitrust laws don’t generally require companies to work with others. “A business doesn't violate antitrust laws by terminating or refusing to work with another business.”

This is not the first antitrust case against Apple. In 2020, Epic Games filed a lawsuit against the company, accusing it of anticompetitive behavior, after being kicked off the App Store for offering a version of the Fortnite game that circumvented the Apple’s steep 30 percent fees for in-app purchases. Epic lost the case in the lower courts, and in January the Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal—and Apple announced it would levy a new app store fee on developers.

Newman notes that the government seems to have kept a close eye on that case in constructing the suit launched Thursday. The case was filed in the Third Circuit Court in New Jersey, rather than the Ninth Circuit Court, which includes California. He predicts it will ultimately end up before the Supreme Court. “I think this one's probably going all the way,” Newman says.

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bitbybitwrites · 7 months

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SAG-AFTRA Applauds Announcement of the NO FAKES Act

October 12, 2023

Proposed Bill Establishes Protections in Voice and Likeness Performance

Sen. Chris Coons, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Thom Tillis today announced the NO FAKES Act, a proposed bill creating new and urgently needed protections for voice and likeness in the age of generative artificial intelligence.

The proposal offers historic federal intellectual property protection against the misappropriation of voice and likeness performance in sound recordings and audiovisual works. It prohibits the unauthorized use of digital replicas without the informed consent of the individuals being replicated.

The world has seen what generative artificial intelligence can do, and witnessed the ease with which an individual can be replicated without consent. The damage to lives, and careers, is real and immediate. This proposal provides an invaluable tool for performers, allowing them to maintain control over their most valuable assets.

“A performer’s voice and their appearance are all part of their unique essence, and it’s not ok when those are used without their permission. Consent is key, and I’m grateful that Sens. Coons, Blackburn, Klobuchar and Tillis are working to give performers recourse and providing tools to remove harmful material,” said SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher.

“The explosion in popularity and capability of generative artificial intelligence has flooded the internet with AI-created songs, videos, and voice recordings which exploit the voices and likenesses of our members without consent or compensation,” said SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. “For our members, their voice and likeness is their livelihood. They spend a lifetime improving their talent and building their value. It is outrageous to think someone can undermine that value with a few prompts and clicks on a keyboard. Thank you to Sens. Coons, Blackburn, Klobuchar and Tillis for spearheading this urgent and important effort.”

SAG-AFTRA looks forward to working with Congress to finalize and pass this historic legislation.

SAG AFTRA NEWS RELEASE HERE

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Senators Coons, Blackburn, Klobuchar, Tillis announce draft of bill to protect voice and likeness of actors, singers, performers, and individuals from AI-generated replicas

OCTOBER 12, 2023

U.S. Senator and Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) announced they have released a discussion draft of their Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe (NO FAKES) Act today to protect the voice and visual likenesses of individuals from unfair use through generative artificial intelligence (AI).

“Generative AI has opened doors to exciting new artistic possibilities, but it also presents unique challenges that make it easier than ever to use someone’s voice, image, or likeness without their consent,” said Senator Coons. “Creators around the nation are calling on Congress to lay out clear policies regulating the use and impact of generative AI, and Congress must strike the right balance to defend individual rights, abide by the First Amendment, and foster AI innovation and creativity. I am thankful for the bipartisan partnership of Senators Blackburn, Klobuchar, and Tillis as we work to protect all individuals from unauthorized replication and ensure that the United States sets clear rules governing the intersection of AI and intellectual property.”

“Songwriters, actors, and our incredibly talented creative community deserve the right to own their name, image, and likeness (NIL). This legislation is a good first step in protecting our creative community, preventing AI models from stealing someone’s NIL, and ensuring that those rights are given primary consideration under the law. I look forward to joining Senator Coons and my colleagues in the Senate and House to develop strong bipartisan legislation we can pass into law,” said Senator Blackburn.

“More and more, we’re seeing AI used to replicate someone’s likeness and voice in ads, images, and videos without consent or compensation. Our laws need to keep up with this quickly evolving technology,” said Senator Klobuchar. “We must put in place rules of the road to protect people from having their voice and likeness replicated through AI without their permission.”

“While AI presents extraordinary opportunities for technological advancement, it also poses some new problems, including the voice and likeness of artists being replicated to create unauthorized works,” said Senator Tillis. “We must protect against such misuse, and I’m proud to co-introduce this draft legislation to create safeguards from AI and protect the authentic work of these artists.”

The NO FAKES Act would prevent a person from producing or distributing an unauthorized AI-generated replica of an individual to perform in an audiovisual or sound recording without the consent of the individual being replicated. The person creating or sharing the unauthorized replication would be liable for the damages caused by the AI-generated fake. Exclusions are provided for the representation of an individual in works that are protected by the First Amendment, such as sports broadcasts, documentaries, biographical works, or for purposes of comment, criticism, or parody, among others.

With the rapid advance of generative AI, creators have already begun to see their voices and likenesses used without their consent in videos and songs. Notably, the song “Heart on my Sleeve,” which used AI-generated likenesses of the voices of pop stars Drake and The Weeknd, accumulated hundreds of thousands of listens on YouTube, Spotify, and other streaming sites within days and was poised to appear on streaming charts before it was removed by streaming services.

As Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Intellectual Property Subcommittee, Senator Coons has long advocated for protecting U.S. intellectual property rights and making U.S. intellectual property law more reliable, effective, and predictable. Senator Coons has held a series of hearings focused on exploring the impact of AI, proposing regulation frameworks, and ensuring U.S. leadership on AI policies.

Clickm on a link below to see the draft of the act

#sag aftra strike #sag aftra strong #sag aftra #actors strike #sagaftrastrike #sag strike #actors #musicians #singers #songwriters #music industry #film #television #movies #cinema

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