Tom Hanks to be in Pittsburgh for When We All Vote, new nonprofit

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-nation/2018/09/12/Tom-Hanks-When-We-All-Vote-new-not-for-profit-pittsburgh-michelle-obama/stories/201809120145

Actor Tom Hanks will be in Pittsburgh Sept. 25 to speak on behalf of When We All Vote, a new organization.

The group describes itself as a national, nonpartisan not-for-profit that “brings together citizens, institutions, and organizations to spark a conversation about our rights and responsibilities in shaping our democracy. Namely, the responsibility of registering and voting,” according to a press release.

It is holding a series of events in cities around the country from Sept. 22-29. Michelle Obama is a co-chair, and a number of celebrities and politicians are listed as co-chairs, including Mr. Hanks, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Janelle Monáe, Chris Paul, Faith Hill, and Tim McGraw.

"Voting is a small act that proves that we are a democracy— a government of the people and by the people,” Mr. Hanks said in the release. “It's up to each and every one of us to make sure our government doesn't just represent a small some—not just the most powerful—but all of us. When we all vote, we are making strides toward a more perfect union."

Pittsburgh Steelers running back James Conner, Kiya Tomlin, wife of head coach Mike Tomlin, and Jim Rooney will join Mr. Hanks in Pittsburgh. To sign up to attend the Pittsburgh event, go to weall.vote/pittsburgh

Michelle Obama announced the group in a video.

Rolling Stone: Ticketmaster Has Secretly Been Cheating You With Its Own Scalpers

Rolling Stone Sept. 19, 2018

Link: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ticketmaster-cheating-scalpers-726353/

Music fans’ ire toward Ticketmaster for expensive concert tickets may be somewhat justified, according to a fiery investigation by CBC News and the Toronto Star on Wednesday detailing a secret scalping scheme run by the ticket sales company itself. The two outlets sent journalists undercover as scalpers to a live entertainment convention this summer, where Ticketmaster reportedly pitched them on its underground professional resale program, through which it takes a cut of profits.

Ticketmaster, which is owned by live entertainment juggernaut Live Nation, enlists resellers to grab batches of tickets from its site and then flip them for higher prices on a Ticketmaster-owned, invite-only platform called TradeDesk (touted by the company as “The most powerful ticket sales tool. Ever”), according to the report. Ticketmaster gets extra fees from the pricier resale tickets on top of its fees from selling the original ticket. CBC and Toronto Star journalists were told that despite the existence of a Ticketmaster “buyer abuse” division that looks for suspicious online activity in ticket sales, the company turns a blind eye to its TradeDesk users. A sales representative told one of the undercover journalists that there are brokers with “literally a couple of hundred accounts” on TradeDesk, and that it’s “not something that we look at or report.”

Ticketmaster has sued groups in the past for using bots to grab up live events tickets from its site, which prompted counterclaims that Ticketmaster was itself supplying scalpers with bot software — which, per this week’s investigation, TradeDesk appears to be doing. “This is going to be a public relations nightmare,” popular Canadian radio program host Alan Cross told CBC upon seeing the findings, noting of previous “whispers of this in the ticket-selling community, but it’s never been outlined quite like this before.”

Ticketmaster has not issued any public comment, but in a statement to CBC, said that “as the world’s leading ticketing platform, representing thousands of teams, artists and venues, we believe it is our job to offer a marketplace that provides a safe and fair place for fans to shop, buy and sell tickets in both the primary and secondary markets.”

Amazon has biggest day ever on kids' Halloween costumes!

So Much for the Sex Temptress Russian Spy? Prosecutors Admit to Major Screw-Up

Link: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/so-much-for-the-sex-temptress-russian-spy-prosecutors-admit-to-major-screw-up/

Law & Crime blog, Monday 9/10/18
By Matt Naham

The lawyer for accused Russian agent Mariia “Maria” Butina is mad as heck and isn’t going to take it anymore, it seems.

Robert Driscoll was none too pleased that federal prosecutors buried on page 19 of a “near midnight” filing on Saturday the fact that they were wrong when they said Butina offered sex “in exchange for a position with a public interest organization.”

Driscoll responded on Sunday evening, saying that the government’s filing was an “extraordinary document that reeks of desperation.”

“On page 19 of a 22-page brief filed near midnight, the government shamelessly admits it had no factual basis for a proffer made in court that Maria Butina ‘offered . . . sex’ in exchange for a position with a public interest organization,” he said.

He added in a footnote that the government’s focus on Butina’s sex life has “gone too far and transformed into an irrelevant obsession.”