New 911 Calls Released in Trayvon Martin Case; Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee Fired [AUDIO]

Fundraising goes viral for victim of school bus taunting

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – An online fundraising effort to assist a bus monitor who was verbally abused by students raised more than $85,000 in its first day.

The effort was set in motion by a 10-minute video of profane taunting endured on Monday by bus monitor Karen Klein.

Klein didn't report the behavior and said she figured she had just ended the school year on a bad note.

But one of the kids on the Greece Athena Middle School bus captured the incident on a cellphone camera. 

The video was pulled off of Facebook late Tuesday and was posted to You Tube. By early Wednesday, it had gone viral around the world.

In the video, Klein does her best to ignore the harassment.

"I was trying to just ignore them, hoping they would go away, and it doesn't work," Klein said. "Trust me, they didn't go away."

The vile chorus included profanity, taunts, insults, jeers, physical ridicule and outright threats to Klein's person and home.

************************

WATCH VIDEO OF SCHOOL BUS MONITOR BEING HARASSED BY STUDENTS

Suit says Hebrew National isn't kosher; ConAgra says without merit

ConAgra says that a lawsuit claiming its Hebrew National products aren't kosher is without merit. (ConAgra screenshot)

ConAgra Foods Inc., the company that makes Hebrew National hot dogs and other meats, said a lawsuit questioning the product’s kosher status is “without merit.”

The complaint, filed in federal court in Minnesota, claims that Hebrew National charges high prices for a designation that it doesn’t deserve.

The suit, filed by 11 consumers and seeking class action status, accuses ConAgra of using dirty animals for its meats. Kosher standards demand healthy and clean livestock.

Why it matters that 'House Hunters' is fake

 
 Kathleen Finch, senior vice president and general manager of HGTV. (June 18, 2012)

From bait-and-switch marriage proposals to wig-pulling, cocktail-tossing catfights, it's safe to say we've grown accustomed to absurd contrivance and scripting in "reality" television. But who would expect such dramatic puppet-mastering on HGTV?

Apparently we all should have. Earlier this month on the website Hooked on Houses, former "House Hunters" participant Bobi Jensen called the show a sham. Jensen writes that the HGTV producers found her family's plan to turn their current home into a rental property "boring and overdone," and therefore crafted a narrative about their desperation for more square footage. What's more, producers only agreed to feature Jensen's family after they had bought their new house, forcing them to "tour" friends' houses that weren't even for sale to accommodate the trope of "Which one will they choose?"

New 911 Calls Released in Trayvon Martin Case; Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee Fired [AUDIO]

The Greatest Photograph Ever Taken of Planet Earth?

You've seen our stunning planet, but never quite like this.

(Photo: Electro-L Satellite)

Sure, you may have seen NASA’s epic photograph of the spinning blue marble we call home. But unlike that snapshot, which was actually a composite image, a new 121-megapixel photograph making the rounds is a single-shot.

It was snapped by a new Russian weather satellite, the Electro-L, reports Gizmodo.

Israel says clock ticking after Iran talks fail

Israel has responded to the failure of the latest nuclear talks between world powers and Iran with a familiar refrain: sanctions must be ramped up while the clock ticks down toward possible military action.

Syrian air force pilot defects in fighter jet to Jordan

Jordan says a Syrian air force pilot has flown his Mig-21 fighter jet to the kingdom and asked for political asylum, the Associated Press reports.

"The jetfighter landed at 10:45am and the government is currently considering the pilot's request," Jordanian Minister of State for Information Samih al-Maaytah told The Jordan Times Thursday without elaborating further.

Reuters quotes al-Maaytah as saying the "is being debriefed at the moment."
Reuters says Syrian state television identified the pilot as Col. Hassan Hamada, reporting that he was on a training mission near the border when communications with the plane were lost.

Governor: Oracle's Ellison to buy most of an Hawaiian island

HONOLULU – Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has reached a deal to buy 98% of the island of Lanai from its current owner, Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie said Wednesday.

Blacks Miss Out as Jobs Rebound in New York City

For months now, New York officials have been highlighting how the city has regained all the jobs lost during the long recession and then some. But by several measures, the city’s recovery has left black New Yorkers behind.


Ángel Franco/The New York Times

Kevin Starkes, right, who lives in the South Bronx, said he had been trying for about 10 weeks to find work as an accountant.

More than half of all of African-Americans and other non-Hispanic blacks in the city who were old enough to work had no job at all this year, according to an analysis of employment data compiled by the federal Labor Department. And when black New Yorkers lose their jobs, they spend a full year, on average, trying to find new jobs — far longer than New Yorkers of other races.

Nationally, the employment outlook for blacks has begun to brighten: there were about one million more black Americans with jobs in May than there were a year earlier, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But that is not the case in New York City, where the decline in employment since the recession began here, in 2008, has been much steeper for blacks than for white or Hispanic residents, said James Parrott, chief economist for the Fiscal Policy Institute, a liberal research group.

 

Study Shows Mitt Romney-Paul Ryan Budget Is Real Class Warfare

So, finally we have it. The Republican "Tax Cut Plan" in all its glory.
Mitt Romney and his Republican colleagues were intent on putting forth what they thought would be a nice series of tax cuts and popular, new, simple, reduced tax brackets.

Oops.

This is not actually reducing the burden on middle class families, it is increasing it. A new Joint Economic Committee Study exposes this sham of a plan. Making President George W. Bush's tax cuts permanent and further reducing the top rate to 25 percent is truly class warfare, Robin Hood in reverse, stick it to the middle class. The fact is that to close the so-called loopholes and get rid of the credits, many of which help the middle class, we are seeing a further redistribution of wealth to the wealthy.

The Romney-Ryan plan would increase taxes on wage earners who make between $50,000 to $100,000 by $1,300. It would increase taxes on those who make between $100,000 to $200,000 by $2,600. Another great idea for taking us back to the Bush-era, on steroids.

If you make between $500,000 and $1 million, you get another nice check for $35,000—go buy a new car or a big diamond ring. And if you happen to make over a million dollars, the average redistribution of wealth comes to an unbelievable $285,000.

What Are Friends For? Your Good Health, Maybe

 Whether it's the solitude you get after a long and busy day or the independence -- you can walk around in your underwear all the time! -- living alone has its perks. Some people are perfectly happy to be alone all the time. But being isolated and feeling lonely may put you at higher risk for functional decline and even death, new research finds.

Silly as it sounds, living by yourself carries a small if obvious danger. When family members and roommates are around, they can intervene in a medical emergency. Being on your own means that, well, you're on your own.

As Jamaican Drug Lord is Sentenced, U.S. Still Silent on Massacre

Tomorrow, Jamaican strongman Christopher “Dudus” Coke will face a prison sentence of up to twenty-three years in federal court. As I reported for the magazine in December, at least seventy-three civilians died in the process of getting Coke out of Jamaica and into U.S. custody. At the time, the Jamaican security forces claimed that most of the dead were gunmen who died defending Coke inside the barricaded neighborhood of Tivoli Gardens. But for these seventy-three supposed gunmen, the security forces only recovered six guns. Three of the dead were women. One was a U.S. citizen. Most appear to have been unarmed civilians, rounded up and massacred after the neighborhood was already under control.

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/06/christopher-coke-tivoli-massacre.html#ixzz1xA4IJ18A

Duh! STUDY: US Teens Smoke More Marijuana Than Cigarettes

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday that 23 percent of high school students said they recently smoked marijuana, while 18 percent said they had puffed cigarettes. The survey asked teens about a variety of risky behaviors.

‘Django Unchained’ Trailer Is Out. Jamie Foxx Plays Slave Out For Revenge!

Quentin Tarantino has been a notable film maker when it comes to airing out the uncomfortable realities of race through cinema.

And Tarantino’s recent trailer for his newest film, “Django Unchained,” is certainly going to punctuate his reputation as an unabashed maker of film that  evokes controversial commentary on how white Hollywood directors present stories of Black history to mostly White audiences.

Walmart workers want better wages, affordable benefits

If she could figure out how to live in her car, Janet Sparks would.

The 52-year-old makes $11.60 an hour as a front-of-the-store manager at a Louisiana Walmart and says she struggles to pay for basic necessities, let alone her $600-a-month rent.

"I'm giving it all I got, I like what I do, and yet I'm struggling so bad. This is not what it was when I started," says Sparks, who began working for America's No. 1 employer and discount store seven years ago.

• Walmart employees protest working conditions

Sparks belongs to a loosely knit association of Walmart employees called the Organization United for Respect at Walmart — OUR Walmart, for short. They are prodding the giant retailer to provide better wages, affordable benefits and reasonably reliable schedules for store employees nationwide. Their campaign comes not only at a time when many low-wage workers in the U.S. are struggling to make ends meet, but also as Walmart is rededicating itself to attracting price-conscious consumers like them — by holding down its expenses and guaranteeing the lowest prices.

OUR Walmart is not a labor union and lacks the right to bargain with the company on workers' behalf. The group receives some financial and technical support from the nation's largest retail workers union — the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), which has tried to organize Walmart workers in the past.

OUR Walmart claims about 5,000 members who pay monthly dues of $5 each.

Members learn how to stand up for themselves with store managers and about their legal protections as workers. They try to recruit fellow associates at their stores, and local groups hold meetings to discuss specific grievances. About three dozen members traveled to Walmart's annual shareholders meeting last week in Bentonville, Ark., to pass out fliers about their cause.

In the two years since OUR Walmart's creation, Walmart has twice raised the number of hours that part-time employees need to qualify for health benefits. Wage caps begun about six years ago block raises for some longtime employees in the same jobs. And some workers say the company's work-scheduling system limits their hours below what they need to qualify for benefits and produces such widely varying schedules that it's difficult to take a second job to make ends meet.

A "Declaration of Respect" that about 100 OUR Walmart members presented to the company last June calls on Walmart to offer affordable health care, create more dependable schedules and pay at least $13 an hour, among other things. 

Walmart says the national average hourly wage for its full-time workers is $12.40 but declined to say what it is for part-time workers. The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 since 2009.

Continue reading this article - click here.

Happy Bless Birthday, Prince!

Prince's Birthday: Singer Turns 54

The purifying waters of Lake Minnetonka have definitely been a fountain of youth for Prince. Today the 'Purple Rain' star turns 54 and after all these years he's still got it.



Not only has the soulful legend revolutionized the music world, his trademark eccentric wardrobe has never failed to turn heads. From ruffles, to bell bottoms, to baring it all. Who could forget these infamously brief chaps?

Happy Bless Birthday to the 'Prince of Purple Rain'!

LOCKED-IN PROFIT Private Prisons Build Empire On Immigration Crackdown

Private Prisons Profit From Immigration Crackdown, Federal And Local Law Enforcement Partnerships

On a flat and desolate stretch of Interstate 10 some 50 miles south of Phoenix, a sheriff's deputy pulls over a green Chevy Tahoe speeding westbound and carrying three young Hispanic men.

The man behind the wheel produces no driver's license or registration. The deputy notices $1,000 in cash stuffed in the doorframe -- payment, he presumes, for completed passage from Mexico. He radios the sheriff's immigration enforcement team, summoning agents from the U.S. Border Patrol. Soon, the three men are ushered into the back of a white van with a federal seal.

This routine traffic stop represents the front end of an increasingly lucrative commercial enterprise: the business of incarcerating immigrant detainees, the fastest-growing segment of the American prison population. The three men loaded into the van offer fresh profit opportunities for the nation's swiftly expanding private prison industry, which has in recent years captured the bulk of this commerce through federal contracts. By filling its cells with undocumented immigrants caught in the web of increased border security, the industry has seen its revenues swell at taxpayer expense.

The convergence of the people on the Interstate on this recent afternoon, as well as the profits that flow from imprisoning immigrants, are in part the result of concerted efforts by the private prison industry to tilt immigration detention policies in its favor, a Huffington Post investigation has shown.

In Washington, the industry's lobbyists have influenced policy to secure growing numbers of federal inmates in its facilities, while encouraging Congress to increase funding for detention bedspace. Here in this southern Arizona community, private prison companies share the spoils of their business with the local government, effectively giving area law enforcement an incentive to apprehend as many undocumented immigrants as they can.

This confluence of forces has contributed to a doubling of the ranks of immigrant detainees, to about 400,000 a year. Nearly half are now held in private prisons, up from one-fourth a decade ago, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The two largest for-profit prison companies, Corrections Corporation of America and The GEO Group, Inc., have more than doubled their revenues from the immigrant detention business since 2005, according to securities filings.

Read more of this article - click here.

Cuba loosens restrictions on private enterprise

BAY OF PIGS, Cuba – Sitting at a wooden table at his 3-week-old restaurant, Saturnino Morrejon Ramos surveyed the turquoise water of this inlet on the Caribbean off Cuba's southern coast.

"I still remember the gunfire," Ramos, 64, said, referring to the failed, CIA-backed invasion by Cuban exiles to depose the regime of Fidel Castro in 1961.

Ramos and others like him are taking part in a decidedly capitalistic change in Cuba in which the communist rulers have relaxed state control of the economy to generate wealth. Results appear mixed because of high taxes on profits and restrictions on economic freedoms that could lead to demands for political liberties.

Ramos is happy about the changes. The tables, chairs and kitchen of the restaurant atop his house were bought using $5,000 worth of remittances, or cash that the family gets from relatives in the USA.

"It's definitely worth paying the taxes to the government because we're earning more money," he said, admiring both the view and the fish caught yards away that lay grilled on the plates of diners. "Everyone's pleased the government has allowed this."

Who Killed American Unions?

A new theory says that a wave of massive technological change gave life to organized labor -- and another wave took it all away

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker doesn't like unions, and unions don't like him. But the most remarkable thing about Walker's relationship to labor isn't that he thinks unions are worthless -- most Republicans agree -- but that he thinks about them, at all.

Today, unions have been swept into dusty corners of the U.S. workforce, such as Las Vegas casino cleaners and New York City hotel staff. For much of the 20th century, things were different. Almost every person living in the Northeast, Midwest and California "was in a union himself/herself, had a family member in a union, or, at least, had a friend or neighbor in a union," Rich Yeleson, veteran in the labor movement, writes in The New Republic. The apogee of the unions was also the apogee of the middle class, when it commanded more than half of total income. As the union membership rate dropped, middle class share of income fell, too.

Warmest U.S. spring on record: NOAA

So far, 2012 has been the warmest year the United States has ever seen, with the warmest spring and the second-warmest May since record-keeping began in 1895, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported on Thursday.

Temperatures for the past 12 months and the year-to-date have been the warmest on record for the contiguous United States, NOAA said.

The average temperature for the contiguous 48 states for meteorological spring, which runs from March through May, was 57.1 degrees F (13.9 C), 5.2 degrees (2.9 C) above the 20th century long-term average and 2 degrees F (1.1 C) warmer than the previous warmest spring in 1910.

Automatic Budget Cuts Could Cause 1 Million Layoffs

Former officials say November layoffs at companies that depend on massive government contracts could shake up the election

Hundreds of thousands of Americans could head to the polls in November with fresh pink slips from firms that do business with the federal government, potentially upending key races across the country.

If Congress fails to pass a broad debt-reduction package this year that would reduce the federal debt by $1.2 trillion, around $500 billion in separate cuts to defense and domestic entitlement budgets would go into effect Jan. 1. The impact would force government entities like the Pentagon to cancel contracts, lay off workers and terminate programs, experts of all political stripes agree.

The Bipartisan Policy Center, in a report released Thursday, predicts the result would be a fresh injection of unemployed Americans into the still-staggering U.S. economy.