Big No-Tax Corps Just Keep on Dodging

Last November, Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy issued a major study of the federal income taxes paid, or not paid, by 280 big, profitable Fortune 500 corporations. That report found, among other things, that 30 of the companies paid no net federal income tax from 2008 through 2010. New information for 2011 shows that almost all these 30 companies have maintained their tax dodging ways.

In fact, all but four of the 30 companies remained in the no-federal-income-tax category over the 2008-11 period.

Discrimination Cited In Maintenance And Marketing Of Foreclosed Properties In Latino And African American Neighborhoods

Three years since a Wells Fargo Bank loan officer shared the details of how she and her colleagues targeted and directed prospective African American homebuyers into taking out expensive high-interest subprime mortgages to The New York Times, racial discrimination in the housing market is still an issue.

According to a new investigative report by the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), a coalition of fair housing non-profit organizations, six major banks are engaging in discriminatory practices in the maintenance and marketing of foreclosed Real Estate Owned (REO) properties in predominantly Latino and African American neighborhoods.

CEO and President of the NFHA, Shanna L. Smith, said in a press release that the report “offers evidence that banks responsible for peddling unsustainable loans to communities of color and triggering our current foreclosure crisis are continuing to damage those communities by failing to properly maintain and market the properties they own.”

Lyrical Vacation: Costa Rica

San Jose, Costa Rica

Prosecutor: No Grand Jury for Trayvon Martin Shooter George Zimmerman

The special prosecutor investigating the shooting death of unarmed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin has ruled out using a grand jury in the case, meaning her office alone will decide whether to charge shooter George Zimmerman with a crime. The decision means Zimmerman will not be charged with first-degree murder — a serious charge that would indicate the crime was premeditated and would require the convening of a grand jury in Florida. The special prosecutor, Angela Corey, said her decision "should not be considered a factor in the final determination of the case."

George Zimmerman Launches Defense Website

George Zimmerman, the alleged killer of Trayvon Martin, has launched his own website in an attempt to raise money for what he described as his "living expenses and legal defense." The website contains photos of pro-Zimmerman slogans, including a sign at a rally by Koran-burning pastor Terry Jones and a photo of a vandalized black cultural center at Ohio State University where someone spray-painted the words "Long Live Zimmerman." Every page on Zimmerman’s website includes this quote from Edmund Burke: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Fox Criticized for Calling Neo-Nazis a "Civil Rights Group"

In media news, a Fox affiliate in Florida is facing criticism after it referred to a neo-Nazi group as a "civil rights group" in a report about Trayvon Martin’s killing. Here is part of the Fox report that includes an interview with Jeff Schoep of the National Socialist Movement.

Anchor Jennifer Bisram: "There’s another civil rights group in town: the National Socialist Movement."

Jeff Schoep: "A lot of people in the community, in the white community down there, had been contacting us out of concern for their safety just because of racial tensions."

Anchor Jennifer Bisram: "Racial tensions after 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman. Zimmerman is claiming self-defense and has been in hiding now for weeks."

Jeff Schoep: "We’re a white civil rights organization, and we go into areas where we’re needed and where white citizens need our help."

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the National Socialist Movement has its roots in the original American Nazi Party. It is now one of the largest neo-Nazi organizations in the country. The group openly idolizes Adolf Hitler and calls for the deportation of every non-white person in the country.

Police: White Shooters Confessed to Killing Black People in Tulsa

Two white men accused of shooting five black people in Tulsa, Oklahoma, killing three of them, have reportedly confessed to authorities. Tulsa police say 19-year-old Jake England has admitted to police that he shot three of the victims, and 33-year-old Alvin Watts has said that he shot two others. Police said the suspects drove through the streets of north Tulsa, a predominantly black neighborhood, and randomly shot pedestrians. Both men were ordered held on bail of more than $9 million during their first court appearance on Monday.

Chicago: Lawsuit Launched over Shooting Death of Unarmed Woman by Off-Duty Cop

The family of a 22-year-old woman who was fatally shot last month by an off-duty police officer in Chicago has filed a wrongful death lawsuit. A lawyer for the family of Rekia Boyd said Detective Dante Servin shot Boyd and a man she was with after getting into an argument with the man, 39-year-old Antonio Cross. The lawyer said neither victim was armed. Police originally claimed Cross had pulled a gun, but no gun was found at the scene. Boyd was shot in the back of the head and died a day later.

Lawyer: Autopsy Shows Kenneth Chamberlain Did Not Have Weapon

There is a new development in the case of the police killing of 68-year-old Kenneth Chamberlain, the former Marine who was killed in his own home in White Plains, New York, after a medical alert. According to an autopsy report obtained by Juan Gonzalez of the New York Daily News, Chamberlain died from a single bullet that entered his right arm and ripped through both lungs. A lawyer for Chamberlain’s family said the autopsy contradicts the police account of his death. Police say Chamberlain was holding a butcher knife when police officer fired two shots to stop him. But an attorney for Chamberlain’s family said the trajectory of the fatal bullet suggests Chamberlain was neither facing the police nor holding up a weapon.

Michelin to build new $750M plant in Anderson

South Carolina’s Tech Savvy Workforce Draws Tire Makers

Tire makers say South Carolina’s high-tech workforce makes the state an easy choice for tomorrow’s factories, where highly automated plants require skilled operators.

Three tire manufacturers have laid plans over the next year to build new plants in the state. Michelin’s announcement Tuesday, of a new $750 million plant came after Continental Tire began construction of the new plant last month. And Bridgestone announced in September plans for a new 1.5 million square-foot plant in Aiken County, S.C., which will bring 850 jobs to the area.

The tire makers say they have chosen to expand in the state because of an education system that grooms students to work on an increasingly  high-tech  factory floor. The latest announcement from Michelin comes as manufacturing jobs are slowly returning to the U.S. after losing more than a million positions during the recession.  The sector expanded by 37,000 jobs in March, in its 32nd straight month of growth, according to the government.

Test Drive: the 2012 BMW 3 Series Sedan

BMW 3 Series Sedan courtesy BMW

When BMW rolls out an all-new 3 Series, it's big news, since these have been the benchmark of German sedans for the last 30 years or more. It also sets off a tectonic shift in the entry-level luxury market, with the Mercedes-Benz C Class, Audi A, not to mention the Cadillac CTS, Infiniti G and the Lexus GS suddenly called upon to step up their game to follow along.

This automotive war of attrition becomes a win for the consumer, as the arms race among the automakers gives the consumer a lot more choice. Really, who can argue with better, faster and safer cars every few years?

New Details Emerge over Police Fatal Shooting of Elderly Ex-Marine Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr.

Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez has obtained a photograph of White Plains Police Officer Anthony Carelli, the officer alleged to have fired the two shots that killed Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr., the 68-year-old former Marine whose medical alert button accidentally summoned police to his apartment last November. The police union has blasted the release of the officer’s name, saying he deserves the right to a fair and impartial inquiry. Chamberlain’s son said he agrees, but notes that the White Plains police failed to grant his father the same opportunity. [includes rush transcript]

UFO Encounter Revealed After Almost 40 Years By Ex-Military Pilot: Exclusive

Huge Martian Dust Devil Churns in New Photo

See the Elephant Face on Mars

EXCLUSIVE: Dolly Parton devastated hearing 'I Will Always Love You' played at Whitney Houston's funeral

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/04/05/dolly-parton-devastated-hearing-will-always-love-played-at-whitney-houston/?google_editors_picks=true#ixzz1rMcLqFit

Healthiest Plants for Your Home

Class photo called ‘offensive’ and ‘degrading’

Growth of Suburbs Falls To Historic Low

Eight Queens schools slated for closure gear up for last stand 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/queens-schools-slated-closure-gear-stand-article-1.1054676#ixzz1rMgPVEdd

What Does the JOBS Act Do?

Employment Blog Network



Looking For Employment?

Killed at Home: White Plains, NY Police Called Out on Medical Alert Shoot Dead Black Veteran, 68

As the Trayvon Martin case draws national attention, we look at another fatal shooting of an African-American male that has received far less scrutiny. Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr., a 68-year-old African-American Marine veteran, was fatally shot in November by White Plains, NY, police who responded to a false alarm from his medical alert pendant. The officers broke down Chamberlain’s door, tasered him, and then shot him dead. Audio of the entire incident was recorded by the medical alert device in Chamberlain’s apartment. We’re joined by family attorneys and Chamberlain’s son, Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr., who struggles through tears to recount his father’s final moments, including the way police officers mocked his father’s past as a marine. "For them to look at my father that way, (with) no regard for his life, every morning I think about it," he says. [includes rush transcript]

Justice for Kenneth Chamberlain Sr.

This petition is regarding the upcoming Grand Jury hearing in the case of Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr., an unarmed elderly black citizen who was shot to death by the White Plains Police Department. This case not only brings into question the policies and practices of this department; but it is an open question whether it was inevitable, particularly in light of the audio tapes and video tapes witnessed by Mr. Chamberlain’s family members and attorneys where racial slurs and expletives were used before ultimately shooting him twice in the chest and killing him. It is imperative that those tapes be made available to the Grand Jury, and that all other evidence be presented as well. I am concerned that secrecy so far--for example, the names of officers involved have not been released--bodes badly for transparency in this case as it moves forward. Nor am I aware of any public statements about the case from elected officials calling for openness.

Members of Mr. Chamberlain’s family and community--and a much wider circle of people who need to know there is fairness in the criminal justice system--seek reassurance that, no matter what the verdict, the process has been open, honest, and just. We, the undersigned, implore Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore to no longer allow police misconduct, brutality, or criminality to happen in this community and ask that these officers be indicted and charged with murder and civil rights violations.

 On November 19, 2011, at approximately 5 a.m., my father, 68-year-old Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr., was at his home located at 135 S. Lexington Avenue in White Plains, New York. He was a 20-year veteran of the Westchester County Department of Corrections, and he proudly served the United States of America as a Marine, receiving an honorable discharge. He stood about 5 feet, 9 inches tall, and he suffered from a heart condition.

His medical alert device sent an alert to his service provider, which placed a call to the City of White Plains Department of Public Safety. In response to the call, police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians went to my father’s home. Once at his house, the police knocked on my father’s door and were verbally greeted by him. He told them that he did not need assistance and that there was no medical emergency. He told them that he did not call them.

Despite being told that there was no need for their services, the police refused to leave and insisted that my father let them into his home.

My father had not committed any crime, and he declined to let them into his home. My father communicated with police at length, and his medical alert service provider advised the White Plains Police Department that they wanted to withdraw their request for medical assistance because there was no emergency.

Despite this information, the police continued to insist that they gain an entry to my father’s apartment.

During the incident, the police banged on my father’s door over and over again, causing him to fear for his life. In fact, my father contacted his medical alert service provider while the police were banging on his door and asked them for help.

He told them that the White Plains Police employees were outside his door and were going to kill him. The medical alert service provider recorded the communications between the police and my father. During the incident, the police were disrespectful to my father and threatened him as he stood in his apartment and told them that he just wanted to be left alone. The police continued to bang on my father’s door for approximately an hour.

During that time they taunted my father, cursed at him, and called him a "nigger." They ultimately broke through his apartment door and forced their way into his apartment, all without his consent. Upon entering his home, and without warning or prior verbal warnings or orders, police immediately used a Taser weapon against my father and attempted to shock him with the Taser’s electricity.

My father was standing approximately six to eight feet away from the officers, and he was wearing nothing but boxer shorts when the police began their assault against him. After using the Taser against my father, everything else is questionable except for the fact that two 40 caliber rounds were fired into my father which resulted in his death. In my opinion my father was murdered!

We are asking the Westchester County D.A. to bring a criminal indictment, and we call on the United States Department of Justice or the New York State Attorney General to prosecute this as a hate crime, since it appears that his killing was motivated by hate.

Randolph McLaughlin, attorney for the family of Kenneth Chamberlain. He is a longtime civil rights attorney. He teaches at Pace Law School.

Mayo Bartlett, attorney for family of Kenneth Chamberlain. He is the former chief of the Bias Crimes Unit of the Westchester County District Attorney’s office and the former chair of the Westchester County Human Rights Commission.

Kenneth Chamberlain Jr., son of Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr

New York State Senate: Suzi Oppenheimer

Parents who fear child may have autism urged to be pushy as early treatment 'crucial'

 

What to do if you win the Mega Millions lottery jackpot

 

Wife shot dead by husband after dog poops in house: police

 A 76-year-old Texas man was charged with murder for shooting his wife and two dogs after one of the animals pooped in the house.

Police arrested Michael Stephen Stolz after a five-hour standoff at the man's home in the Dallas suburb of Lewisville late Tuesday. He was charged with murder in the shooting death of his wife, Bernice Stolz, and remained in the Denton County Jail on Wednesday on a $250,000 bond.

Stolz told officers he shot his 49-year-old wife and the couple's two dogs after the German Shepherd mix defecated on the floor on Saturday, said Lewisville Police Capt. Kevin Deaver. He told officers that he shot the dog, then their other dog, a Rottweiler, then his wife, who was screaming because of the shootings of the dogs, Deaver said.

Obama won’t buy Mega Millions ticket, White House says

President Barack Obama won't be joining the throngs of Americans lining up to buy a Mega Millions ticket, the White House said Thursday as the multi-state lottery's jackpot hit a record estimated $540 million jackpot ($389.8 million if you take the cash option).

But "I'm going to run out and buy one," press secretary Jay Carney lightheartedly told reporters as he wrapped up his daily briefing.

Earlier, at a deli a few blocks from the White House, customers lined up six deep to trade their greenbacks for the salmon-pink tickets, some of which bear the mention "D.C. Lottery Commemorative Ticket" and "I played the world's largest jackpot!"

House approves Paul Ryan budget plan

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved a $3.53 trillion budget proposal that would reduce spending by more than $5 trillion over 10 years compared to President Barack Obama's budget recommendations, would overhaul the federal Medicare program, and would reduce taxes and spending on certain programs.

The House voted 228-191 to pass the bill with 10 Republicans opposing it. Democrats unanimously opposed the measure.

[Related: GOP passes Paul Ryan's budget in a familiar fight]

The bill, championed by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is destined for almost sure defeat in the Democrat-led Senate, but its passage in the House will be used by Republicans to contrast the spending priorities of each party.

The projections within the bill are based on the assumption that the federal health care law will be repealed, and while the plan reduces spending, it would still leave federal coffers with a deficit of nearly $800 billion in 2013. The tax code would be changed to reduce the six current tax brackets to just two, with a top rate of 25 percent for high earners and 10 percent for those with lower incomes. The plan would also reduce the corporate tax rate—currently one of the highest in the industrialized world—to 25 percent and eliminate some tax credits and loopholes.