The White House may have another reason to regret those recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board back in January. Aside from royally ticking off Republicans , the move to bypass Congress and install a handful of nominees seems to have installed a Trojan horse on the board. Terence Flynn , a Republican who was one of the White House’s recess appointments, is accused of sharing inside information about the board with private-sector friends, including Mitt Romney ’s top labor adviser. Read full article > >

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Could Obama have buyer’s remorse?

The move by Apple and its supplier Foxconn, the world’s largest manufacturer of electronics, to overhaul working conditions in overseas factories is putting a spotlight on the labor practices of the U.S. technology industry and increasing pressure on Apple’s biggest rivals to respond in kind. Read full article > >

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Apple, Foxconn labor pact awaits industry reaction

In the world of global manufacturing, it seems that multinational corporations are destined to take their turn in the sweatshop spotlight. Apple’s turn, merely the latest, has taken an unusual twist. Chief executive Tim Cook, on a trip to China this past week, visited a Foxconn factory and released photos of grinning workers on the iPhone production line. Cook’s trip came after months of investigations, centered on Foxconn, of Apple’s alleged sweatshop conditions. As the story gained momentum — in part because of a theatrical performance by a man named Mike Daisey, who has since apologized for fabricating much of his narrative — Apple hired a third-party monitoring group, the Fair Labor Association (FLA), to audit working conditions at its factories. The FLA issued a report Thursday citing widespread overtime abuses and subsistence pay at Foxconn, and the manufacturer and Apple pledged to do better. Read full article > >

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Can Apple make a more ethical iPhone?

The Fair Labor Association said Thursday that more than half of the workers in Apple’s assembly plants exceed the company’s limit of 60 hours of work a week and that many face hazardous working conditions. Read full article > >

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Labor audits find poor working conditions at Apple factories

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 5,000 to the lowest level since April 2008, the Labor Department said.

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Jobless Claims Reach New Four-Year Low

Apple Inc’s Tim Cook, on his first trip to China as the chief executive officer, has visited an iPhone production plant run by the Foxconn Technology Group, which is being accused of improper labor practices.

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Apple Chief Visits Foxconn’s iPhone Plant in China

Three days of Supreme Court arguments over the health-care law demonstrated for all to see that conservative justices are prepared to act as an alternative legislature, diving deeply into policy details as if they were members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Read full article > >

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Judicial activists in the Supreme Court

Acknowledging, somewhat redundantly, that he was “a white male Caucasian” before a roomful of Latinos, and asking, as a joke, “Is there a way I can relate to folks here?” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack quickly got around to the go-to phrase for people in his predicament. Read full article > >

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Labor department recognizes Cesar Chavez and other giants of the Farm Worker movement

MADISON, Wis. — Every day at the cutting and sewing business he runs with his father, Ross Brown listened to Glenn Beck rail on the radio against Big Government, Big Labor and Big Money. In his years of middays with Beck, Brown had morphed from apolitical adolescence to college student with his own talk show on the campus radio station and on to businessman with 15 employees and not enough money to offer them health insurance. Read full article > >

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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s recall sharpens fight over money in politics

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AU Launches Kony Manhunt

Eatocracy's Managing Editor Kat Kinsman attempts to vegetable garden on a roof deck in Brooklyn, NY in USDA Hardiness Zone 6b. Feel free to taunt, advise or encourage her efforts as this series progresses. This year, you'll grow your own food. Not all of it and probably not even most or much of it. But you'll grow some, and that's going to change your life. There are plenty of reasons to do this. Andrew Zimmern told us just this week that. “If everyone grew what they could, supported urban farms and community gardens in cities and local CSAs, the pressure relief on our overtaxed system would be immense. The resulting dollar shift would be staggering and deliver a positive shot in the arm to local economies. Our food would also be safer. Small action here can yield tremendous impact, immediately.” That's awfully compelling – and pretty intense. Perhaps start small. Grow an herb you are sick of having to pay money for at a store. Grow a vegetable that reminds you of how a grandparent's kitchen smelled. Grow a fruit you always want to have at your fingertips. Grow an ingredient that will make your sauce, stew, soup or salad taste the way it did when you had it at that little cafe in Rome, France, Mexico City or Des Moines. Grow purple carrots because they look cool. Grow spaghetti squash because you need an excuse to go outside and not check e-mail for a few minutes. Grow heirloom corn to save a variety that's dying out. Grow tomatoes so they only travel a few feet, rather than a few hundred miles and taste like sunshine and summer and bliss when they hit your tongue. Just grow something. But…but…but you have no time and possess neither arable land nor green thumb. You live in a mineshaft several kilometers below the Gobi Desert, and it is dark, arid and oh, so cold. American Idol is on. Nope. Nuh-uh. We're having none of that and will no longer accept any of the following excuses. I have no outdoor space. You do, presumably, have a window in your cell, yes? Congratulations. You have outdoor space. Shocking quantities of vegetation can be grown in window boxes, hanging baskets and those Topsy Turvy planters that blonde people smile near in commercials. In my fifth-floor walk-up bachelorette apartment, I grew 23 varieties of heirloom tomatoes and a slew of peppers in an elaborate rigging of containers strung from my fire escape. This was, most likely, not especially prudent or legal, but boy, did my landlord dig the fresh salsa I bribed him with handed over on the regular. You have space; just get clever about it. No, seriously, I have no outdoor space. There is a community garden near you. Look it up online at localharvest.org , or ask that vegan who your cousin used to date. They'll totally hook you up. A community garden is defined by the American Community Garden Association as “Any piece of land gardened by a group of people.” That's it. You won't suddenly become a Communist, break out in a case of tie dye or even have to make friends if you don't want to (though you could). You'll just have a small, nearby chunk of land over which to fuss. You'll acquire a new place to go outside your house that isn't a cafe with wi-fi, a bar, or anywhere else you would spend a wad of cash on a regular basis. Oh, right – money. I'm totally broke. How can I garden? – Containers and tools If you want to pony up for a $299.95 Hammacher Schlemmer Standing Patio Garden or an $80 garden fork from Smith & Hawken, hey, they're really pretty and I'm not going to stop you. The rest of us will grab old bathtubs, dented cooking pots, egg cartons (and eggshells), takeout containers, tires, soup cans, and even newspapers stuffed into old soda bottles , throw some soil into it and call it a garden. You could, in theory, scoop dirt into an discarded pair of stockings , nail it to a windowsill and call it a planter. Martha Stewart might not come calling, but did you really want her dropping by your house, anyhow?. You don't need schmancy tools, pricey chemicals (which aren't necessarily great for you anyhow), artisanal farming cleats or any such frippery. At the bare minimum, you require dirt and seeds. Yes, sunshine and light as well, but for the most part, those are available for free from the sky. – Dirt As for dirt – if you're lucky, it's just right there underfoot. If you're concerned about its quality, stick it in the oven at 200

Well, so much for that: Louis C.K. has abruptly pulled out of the annual Washington dinner of the Radio & Television Correspondents’ Association, where he was scheduled to perform on June 8. Why? His rep told a CNN reporter Friday, apparently without elaboration, that the comic “just didn’t want to do it anymore.” But by dropping out, he may have sidestepped a fledgling controversy over his gig. Fox News host Greta Van Susteren blogged Thursday that she would urge journalists to boycott the dinner because of C.K.’s “filthy language about women,” and Sarah Palin in particular. Read full article > >

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Louis C.K. bails on Washington media dinner

Well, so much for that: Louis C.K. has abruptly pulled out of the annual Washington dinner of the Radio & Television Correspondents’ Association, where he was scheduled to perform on June 8. Why? His rep told a CNN reporter Friday, apparently without elaboration, that the comic “just didn’t want to do it anymore.” But by dropping out, he may have sidestepped a fledgling controversy over his gig. Fox News host Greta Van Susteren blogged Thursday that she would urge journalists to boycott the dinner because of C.K.’s “filthy language about women,” and Sarah Palin in particular. Read full article > >

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Louis C.K. bails on Washington media dinner

VIERA, FLA. — Two eventful years have passed since Stephen Strasburg made his first spring training start , a span that included his morphing into a full-blown phenom, his harrowing Tommy John surgery, his laborious recovery, his triumphant return and his happy arrival at this Washington Nationals spring training as, to use his preferred phrase, “ just another donkey. ” Read full article > >

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Nationals vs. Astros: Stephen Strasburg returns to the mound in spring training debut

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard defeats rival Kevin Rudd in the Labor Party leadership ballot by 71 votes to 31, officials confirm.

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Australia’s Gillard wins ballot