oSling TV Reportedly Getting HBO Accessw

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  What you don’t see is Tyrion watching Sling on a phone hidden in the bottom of that dish.

  
  
  
  Until now, Dish’s recently launched Sling TV streaming service only offered a package of EPIX channels for users looking to access premium commercial-free movies. But a new report claims that Sling will soon get HBO thanks to a new deal between Time Warner and Dish.
  

  This is according to the Wall Street Journal, which says that a past-deadline deal was reached last night between the satellite service and the media giant (not to be confused with Time Warner Cable, which was spun off into its own business years ago) that keeps channels like TBS and TNT on Dish, and would give Sling users the ability to subscribe to HBO through the service.

  
  

  What’s unclear is whether this reported deal would be for live access to HBO (and if so, is it just HBO or HBO and affiliated channels? And what about Cinemax?), or for online on-demand access through the likes of HBO Go or the soon-to-launch HBO Now. The Journal’s sources say that while Dish now has the right to sell subscriptions to the HBO Now standalone service (which doesn’t require any sort of pay-TV subscription), it is unlikely it will do so when it kicks off next month.

  
  

  Time Warner’s Turner division has been a big part of Sling since it launched nationally in February, with CNN, TBS, TNT, the Cartoon Network and others already available for streaming live on Sling.

  
  

  [via BGR]

  
  


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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

oYuengling Takes Top Craft Brewer Crown In U.S. From Current King Samuel Adamsw

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  (it’s knapptime)

  
  
  
  In the game of beer thrones, Yuengling has emerged as the winner over the former ruler, Samuel Adams, as the top craft brewer in the country. The win comes after a national beer group switched up its rules about what kinds of ingredients craft brewers can use as a “traditional” beer maker.
  

  While Boston Beer Co., the brewer of Samuel Adams beers, shipped 20% more barrels than it did in 2013, the Brewers Association switched up its definition of what constitutes a craft brewery, reports USA Today. Previously, traditional brewers were required to have the majority of their beers produced with all malt.

  
  

  D.G. Yuengling & Son is the nation’s oldest brewery, and its use of corn in its beers had kept it off the annual list. Now that corn has been given the okay by the Association, its winning production volume has taken it past Boston Beer.

  
  

  While total production volumes weren’t released, both breweries are considered “small” as they produce up to 6 million barrels a year.

  
  

  Craft brewers sold about $19.6 billion in beer in 2014, making up 19% of the overall U.S. beer market.

  
  

  The top 20 U.S. craft breweries:
  
  1. D. G. Yuengling and Son, Inc. (Pottsville, Pa.)
  
  2. Boston Beer Co. (Boston)
  
  3. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co (Chico, Calif.)
  
  4. New Belgium Brewing Co. (Fort Collins, Colo.)
  
  5. Gambrinus (Shiner, Texas)
  
  6. Lagunitas Brewing Co. (Petaluma, Calif.)
  
  7. Bell’s Brewery, Inc. (Galesburg, Mich.)
  
  8. Deschutes Brewery (Bend, Ore.)
  
  9. Stone Brewing Co. (Escondido, Calif.)
  
  10. Minhas Craft Brewery (Monroe, Wis.)
  
  11. Brooklyn Brewery (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
  
  12. Duvel Moortgat USA (Kansas City, Mo. & Cooperstown, N.Y.)
  
  13. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (Milton, Del.)
  
  14. Matt Brewing Co. (Utica, N.Y.)
  
  15. Harpoon Brewery (Boston)
  
  16. Firestone Walker Brewing Co. (Paso Robles, Calif.)
  
  17. Founders Brewing Co. (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
  
  18. SweetWater Brewing Co (Atlanta)
  
  19. New Glarus Brewing Co. (New Glarus, Wis.)
  
  20. Alaskan Brewing Co. (Juneau, Alaska)

  
  

  Yuengling ousts Boston Beer as top U.S. craft brewery [USA Today]

  
  


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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

oMegabus Adds Reserved Seats To Double-Decker Bus Trips, But It’ll Cost Yaw

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  (Canadian Pacific)
  

  
  
  
  If you’ve ever taken a trip with a group or family on Megabus, then you know it can be a pain to get seats together unless you show up extra early. Now, the company plans to change that by allowing customers to reserve seats in advance — for a price, that is.
  

  USA Today reports that Megabus passengers can pay a fee between $1 and $7 to choose from 10 premium seats on all of its double-decker bus routes.

  
  

  The reserved seats – which were first experimented with last spring – are distinguished by their solid blue color and large embroidered numbers.

  
  

  Reserved seats also include special features such as a table, a view or a combination of the two. Six of the seats are located on the upper deck either at the front of the bus or behind the stair area. The remaining four seats are situated around table on the bus’ lower deck.

  
  

  “Our customers have always found certain seats on the bus to be highly desirable,” Megabus CEO Dale Moser tells USA Today. “Reserved seating, now available on all of our double-decker routes, allows our customers to book their favorite seats in advance without the hassle of arriving over an hour early to secure them.”

  
  

  The company, which operates in 130 cities, says it may expand the number of reserved seats in the future.

  
  

  After years of negative headlines about steamy-hot buses, fatal accidents, stranded passengers, and rude drivers, Megabus is in need of an image overhaul.

  
  

  Megabus adds reserved seating — for a fee [USA Today]

  
  


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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

oStudy: 38% Of Crab Cakes Tested At Maryland, D.C. Restaurants Don’t Contain The Local Crab Listed On Menusw

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  (planethunt)

  
  
  
  What you see on the menu might not necessarily be what you get, which is especially disappointing if you’re into locally sourced, fresh ingredients. Conservation group Oceana released a new study that said after checking crab cakes at restaurants along the Eastern sea board that were supposed to be Chesapeake Bay blue crab, many of them contained imported impostors instead.
  

  Out of the 90 crab cakes collected from 86 restaurants throughout Maryland and Washington, D.C., Oceana says DNA testing showed that 38% were mislabeled.

  
  

  Instead of the locally caught blue crab on the menu, those crab cakes had imported substitutes, most of which were fished unsustainably, the group says.

  
  

  “When diners purchase a Maryland crab cake, they don’t expect to get an imported substitute,” said Beth Lowell, senior campaign director at Oceana in a press release. “This type of fraud, species substitution, inflates the price for consumers, parades imported and sometimes illegally caught crab as local, prevents consumers from making sustainable seafood choices, and harms the livelihoods of local watermen and seafood businesses.”

  
  

  Every city that Oceana tested crab cakes in had its share of poseurs, with 47% in Annapolis proving false, 46% in Baltimore, 39% in D.C. and 9% on the Maryland Eastern Shore.

  
  

  A crab cake was considered mislabeled if it was described on the menu or confirmed by the server as containing blue crab, or crab sourced from Maryland/Chesapeake Bay region, but instead were made from a completely different crab species.

  
  

  Those that were simply called “Maryland-style” weren’t considered mislabeled, because that could just mean the recipe or seasoning was similar to Maryland crab cakes, not that the crab was actually caught there.

  
  

  Oceana wants a presidential task force that released an action plan last month to crack down on seafood fraud and illegal fishing to take action now, and “to require traceability for all seafood sold in the U.S., including blue crabs, to ensure that it’s safe, legally caught and honestly labeled.”

  
  


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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

oAirline’s Pilots Warn Passengers Of Safety Concernsw

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  (Brian Brodeur)

  
  
  
  In an open letter to their passengers, the pilots of Nevada-based budget carrier Allegiant Air have gone public with their concerns about what they see as sagging service and safety standards for the airlines.
  

  “[W]e are uncomfortable remaining silent about company practices that negatively impact our customers’ travel and vacation, including your comfort, and – most importantly – your safety,” begins a letter posted on the website for the union representing Allegiant pilots.

  
  

  The letter points out that Allegiant is the “most profitable airline in the industry and has had 48 consecutive profitable quarters,” while at the same time experiencing a record number of delays and cancellations, resulting in “the second-highest customer complaint rate out of any U.S. commercial airline.”

  
  

  According to the union, management is “content with just barely meeting acceptable safety standards,” and is “driving a race to the bottom in service, safety standards and treatment for veteran pilots.”

  
  

  The pilots claim that there are “persistent mechanical problems due to poor equipment and the company’s unwillingness to invest in its operation or its workforce,” and accuses CEO Maurice Gallagher of making millions of dollars while allegedly refusing to invest company money in infrastructure and employees.

  
  

  “The company’s profits are propped up by the extra workload placed on its understaffed, underpaid and overworked workforce and its minimalist approach to maintenance and safety,” reads the letter. “Allegiant represents the worst in an economy today where greedy CEOs disregard needed investments into a company’s workforce and infrastructure at the expense of passenger safety and for the benefit of Wall Street.”

  
  

  The union, speaking to Skift.com, points to a recent report [PDF] from the Teamsters Aviation Mechanics Coalition (TAMC) that notes several “air returns and diversions related to maintenance-related issues” involving Allegiant’s fleet during Sept. and Oct. 2014.

  
  

  “The lack of experience, parts, tooling and training combined with the age of the fleet; roughly 22.2 years, is creating a dangerous paradigm that could eventually lead an accident resulting in serious injury and loss of life,” concludes the TAMC report. “In conversations with some of the pilots it became evident that they are used to flying these aircraft with what they consider ‘nuisance’ issues. A situation such as this creates a ‘Bad Norm’ where a perceived ‘nuisance’ is in actuality the precursor to an accident.”

  
  

  The airline and the Teamsters have been at odds for a few years now over issues of benefits and rules involving pilot seniority and scheduling. The union recently voted overwhelmingly in favor of approving a strike.

  
  

  “This is not something we prefer to do,” the president of the union, which also represents pilots of 10 other airlines, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “We believe in a progressive approach (to labor negotiations), but this is a sign of how bad it’s gotten and how concerned we are.”

  
  

  The airline’s Chief Operating Officer defended Allegiant’s record to Skift.com.

  
  

  “Allegiant has one of the best safety records among passenger airlines in the world, and complies with all FAA regulations,” reads the statement from the COO, who adds that the airline is committed to negotiating a contract with our pilots that is “in the best interest of our pilots, as well as our other work groups and the health of our business.”

  
  

  The executive accuses the union of engaging in “scare tactics, including manipulating facts in an attempt to manipulate our customers,” and says such actions are “irresponsible and unfair to our customers.”

  
  


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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

oLawmakers Receiving Anti-Net Neutrality Messages From People Who Never Sent Themw

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  (Josh Bassett)

  
  
  
  In the wake of the FCC’s vote to adopt the new net neutrality rule, Americans of every stripe have bombarded their lawmakers with feedback. Some applaud the rule; others condemn the action. And that is all well and good: it’s the American system of democracy at work, exactly as designed.
  

  Except there’s one big problem: a number of messages against the open internet rule seem to be coming from people who say they never sent them, or in fact from unverifiable “people” who don’t seem to be real constituents at all.
  
  
  
  Politico reported this week on a flood of suspect letters reaching certain lawmakers’ offices. The messages all use the same form text, penned by anti-regulation group American Commitment.

  
  

  American Commitment boasted this week that it has sent 1.6 million messages to lawmakers, from over half a million Americans (each of whom is a constituent of two senators and one representative).

  
  

  And that’s fine. The issue isn’t that the message is a form letter. Plenty of people have trouble with words, and using a template or a form provided by an organization is, overall, probably more common than sending in an original letter. Organizations of every political leaning, representing every possible permutation of concerns, use the same approach.

  
  

  The problem is that it doesn’t seem that real, verifiable people living in the actual districts they purport to be from sent the letters.

  
  

  Politico points to Rep. Jackie Speier of California, who received a significant number of the anti-net-neutrality messages. Spier’s staff noticed the trend of nearly-identical form letters, and discovered that 98% of them came from constituents who had never communicated with her office before, on any issue.

  
  

  So, the Congresswoman’s office did what representatives’ staffs do, and went to reply or reach back out to some of the senders. And that’s when some replied that, no, they’d never sent messages criticizing net neutrality.

  
  

  Politico continues:
  

  
  

  [Speier’s] aides pointed to a memo sent to members’ staff last week by Lockheed Martin, which manages the technology behind some lawmakers’ “contact me” Web pages. Lockheed initially said it had “some concerns regarding the messages,” including the fact that “a vast majority of the emails do not appear to have a valid in-district address.” In some cases, Lockheed also questioned the “legitimacy of the email address contact associated with the incoming message[s].”

  
  

  Lockheed Martin also noted that the source of the messages was not clearly or currently identified.

  
  

  In plain, everyday English, the upshot seems to be: some entity has basically been working a scam on congressional contact forms, to make it look like many more people are pissed off about net neutrality than actually are.

  
  

  Phil Kerpen, the head of American Commitment, denied to Politico that his organization had anything to do with sending the fraudulent communications — but did note that several other organizations could have borrowed American Commitment’s language.

  
  

  As for messages said to be coming from people who never sent them, lists of contact information, including name, address, and e-mail address, are incredibly easy to come by. They are frequently bought, sold, rented, and traded in the world of politics and nonprofits. American Commitment has rented access to such e-mail lists in the past, but, Kerpen told Politico, did not do so as part of this particular 1.6m comment campaign.

  
  

  No matter what the root issue, though, Rep. Speier, is not a fan of any of it.

  
  

  “The idea that an outside group could use consumer data to impersonate constituents suggests an attempt to hijack the important feedback members of Congress need to truly represent their districts,” Speier said in a statement. “This is identity theft, but instead of impersonating for financial gain, the originators of this theft are striking at the heart of our representative democracy.”

  
  

  Net neutrality emails raise suspicions [Politico]

  
  


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by Kate Cox via Consumerist

oNFL Linebacker Files $20M Lawsuit Against Bank Of America For Alleged Fraudw

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  (Mike Mozart)

  
  
  
  

  When looking to manage one’s money, it wouldn’t be unusual to seek advice from the financial professionals at one of the country’s largest banks. But an NFL linebacker says his decision to rely on Bank of America to manage his finances cost him millions of dollars and led to the closing of his budding restaurant business.

  
  

  Seven-time Pro Bowl linebacker Dwight Freeney, who most recently played for the San Diego Chargers after a decade with the Indianapolis Colts, recently filed a lawsuit [PDF] against BofA and one of its executives, alleging that the bank aided and abetted a fraud scheme that ultimately cost him $20 million, CBS Los Angeles reports.

  
  

  “This is a case of conspiracy, criminal fraud, theft and breach of trust in which the nation’s second largest bank, Bank of America, participated in and aided and abetted a scheme to defraud one of its clients,” the lawsuit states.

  
  

  According to the 138-page lawsuit, Freeney authorized the bank’s Global Wealth & Investment Management Division to manage his assets, including his company Roof Group LLC in 2010.

  
  

  At the time he joined the bank as a client, Freeney’s Roof Group owned and operated the Rolling Stone Los Angeles restaurant and had entered into a licensing agreement with Rolling Stone magazine to open several additional locations.

  
  

  However, Freeney claims that over the next two years he was forced to abandon those plans when he became the victim of an “elaborate and malevolent scheme to defraud.”

  
  

  The complaint claims that Bank of America was negligent in the scheme for using fraudulent representations, false promises and the concealment of material facts to convince Freeney to become a BOA client and then permitting the act of embezzlement by referred advisors.

  
  

  The scheme was allegedly devised and carried out by present and former Bank of America employees acting with several outsiders that had been referred to Freeney.

  
  

  Under the recommendation of a Bank of America executive, Freeney says he hired an outside individual as his private banker. Freeney alleges that his advisor failed to reveal the woman was unlicensed and unqualified to serve in that capacity.

  
  

  The lawsuit further alleges that Bank of America lied to Freeney about the true identity of the man brought on as a financial advisor. The complaint claims the man used a false name to conceal the fact he was previously linked to real estate fraud, forgery and theft, among other accusations.

  
  

  During the course of the scheme, Freeney says he was lied to, misled, manipulated and had more than $8.5 million misappropriated from his accounts by the bankers and advisors appointed to his team.

  
  

  Actions related in the scheme included the breaches of fiduciary duty, the theft of millions of dollars of Freeney’s personal funds and conversion of Roof Group’s assets, the purchase of $55 million in worthless life insurance and payment of illegal kickbacks in connection with them, unauthorized disclosure and use of Freeney’s personal, financial, tax and account information, and money laundering transactions to promote and conceal the scheme.

  
  

  In 2012, two of the scheme perpetrators were arrested after fraudulently wiring $2.2 million out of Freeney’s account. The scammers were hit with federal wire fraud charges. The FBI arrests were aided by information reported by Freeney and another informant.

  
  

  A spokesman for Bank of America tells CBSLA that the bank did not play any role in the alleged scheme.

  
  

  “The two people responsible for this wrongdoing have already been convicted,” the spokesperson said. “The primary wrongdoer never worked for the bank or any of its affiliates and the other person committed her criminal conduct after she left Merrill Lynch in 2010.”

  
  

  In all, Freeney is seeking $20 million to compensate his loses and additional punitive damages.

  
  

  NFL Linebacker Alleges Bank Of America ‘Aided & Abetted’ $20M Fraud Scheme [CBSLA]

  
  


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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist