January 12, 2016

Daily Holidays - January 12

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/january12.html

Marzipan Day Love it or hate it, marzipan plays a big role during the festive period. Chances are you’ve got a fair bit left over (including toppings of Christmas cakes and treats), and you’ll need something to do with it. Marzipan Day is all about exploring this sweet, yellowish paste of ground almonds, sugar, and egg whites as an ingredient and getting creative. See what you can make! https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/marzipan-day/

Poetry At Work Day Every day in our jobs we encounter people and situations that could be put into verse – whether it be a line from an important presentation, a rhythm you notice in the manufacturing process, or perhaps the feelings you wish to encapsulate about the people you serve or a situation you faced. Poetry at Work Day is a great opportunity to take a bit of time to slow down and get your creative juices flowing – to try to put into words in a beautiful way an aspect of your workplace. So, get brainstorming and creating your poetic masterpieces – the world is waiting to hear them! https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/poetry-at-work-day/

Pharmacist Day implores us to take a moment to think of all the people who work as pharmacists. They only see us when we’re sick with a cold, cough, measles or have a hangover… or when we’ve run out of toothpaste. These poor folks help us to feel better, and only ever see us at our worst. Take a moment to visit a pharmacy with a smile on your face and a healthy bounce to your step – we’re sure you’ll surprise them! https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/pharmacist-day/

January 11, 2016

Daily Holidays - January 11

Milk Day It is generally thought that Milk Day was created to celebrate the first time milk was delivered in glass bottles. Prior to this, conditions for milk delivery were fairly unsanitary but the new bottles enabled safe and clean storage. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/milk-day/

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/january11.html

Learn Your Name in Morse Code Day Beepedy-beep-beep… Learn Your Name In Morse Code Day prepares you for all of those life events where it’s utterly necessary that you be able to recite your name in Morse code. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/learn-your-name-in-morse-code-day/

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day National Human Trafficking Awareness Day is observed annually on January 11.
Beginning in 2011, by Presidential Proclamation, each January has been designated National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Following the start of National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, with the help of non-government organizations, National Human Trafficking Day began and is observed annually on January 11. http://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/latest-posts/

January 10, 2016

Daily Holidays - January 10

Bittersweet Chocolate Day Bittersweet chocolate is dark chocolate that is sweetened with cane sugar. It may have a touch of vanilla, but never milk. It is thought to have come about because the bitter taste of chocolate didn’t suit the European taste palette. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/bittersweet-chocolate-day/

National Cut Your Energy Costs Day A great New Year’s resolution might be to reduce your energy consumption, and to save money in the process. Cut Your Energy Costs Day is all about using less electricity (and hopefully paying less money as a result). https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/cut-your-energy-costs-day/

Peculiar People Day is centered around celebrating those who are eccentric, non-conformist or otherwise unique in some way. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/peculiar-people-day/

Houseplant Appreciation Day encourages you to look after your houseplants, to grow and maintain a variety of colourful indoor flowers, and to generally appreciate house plants! https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/houseplant-appreciation-day/

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/january10.html

January 9, 2016

Missouri Senate moves media off floor after tweets

JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri senators ordered journalists off the Senate floor Thursday after some lawmakers complained their private conversations had been tweeted.

The Senate voted 26-4 to move reporters to a visitors' gallery overlooking the chamber in Jefferson City. Starting March 29, journalists will no longer be allowed at their longtime, 10-seat table near the Senate dais and the desks of several senators. Photographers will still be allowed on the Senate floor.

Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard says he initiated the move because some reporters had violated the Senate's trust in recent years by tweeting private discussions and negotiations they overheard on the Senate floor.

The Senate floor is "our space, that's not your space," Richard, a Republican from Joplin, told reporters after the vote. The press isn't allowed on the floor of the U.S. Senate either, he said.

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/missouri-senate-moves-media-off-floor-after-tweets/article_f6129c6a-6d56-5478-93dd-645e7b57eb17.html

January 9, 2016

Daily Holidays - January 9

National Apricot Day Not many people know that just three apricots will provide a person with a third of your daily beta carotene needs. This is just one of the benefits of this fruit that are celebrated on Apricot Day! Apricots are also rich in vitamin C, vitamin A and fibre. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/apricot-day/

National Static Electricity Day Static Electricity Day is a great excuse to play with static electricity! Rub a balloon to build up static, and then have fun by making your hair (or perhaps someone else’s) stand on end. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/static-electricity-day/

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/january9.html

January 8, 2016

Daily Holidays - January 8

Argyle Day We’ve all got a favourite knitwear pattern, right? Heck, most people suffer sleepless nights trying to prioritise plaid over tartan. Well this is the day where argyle fans get to come out loud and proud. Yes, finally you can dig out all thirty-six pairs of socks you’ve hidden at the back of the wardrobe since Christmas and pair them off with the spoils of raiding your grandad’s golfing gear. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/argyle-day/

Bubble Bath Day What better way to unwind than with a hot, soapy bubble bath? Bubble Bath Day encourages you to relax, so light the candles, play some soothing music and lose yourself in a favourite book for an hour or so. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/bubble-bath-day/

Earth’s Rotation Day Ever feel like you’re just spinning around and around? Don’t worry – we all are, all the time! Earth’s Rotation Day is a little reminder that we’re all spinning out of control, and there’s nothing that we can do about it. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/earths-rotation-day/

National Joy Germ Day A Joy Germ is a little germ of joy that is spread by smiling at people, making people laugh, and generally spreading happiness everywhere you go. Imagine a day where everyone is smiling, laughing and spreading happiness – that’s Joy Germ Day! https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/joy-germ-day/

Recognized by the National Confectioners Associations and celebrated by millions across the country, January 8th of each year is National English Toffee Day. A popular variant of the original toffee, in the United States “English toffee” is a buttery confection topped with almonds. It’s made by caramelizing sugar with butter and can be both hardened or chewy. The Heath bar is a type of candy bar that is made with an English toffee core. http://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/latest-posts/

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/january8.html

January 7, 2016

Uber's worst nightmare...

In early 2012, on a visit to San Francisco, Shannon Liss-Riordan went to a restaurant with some friends. Over dinner, one of her companions began to describe a new car-hailing app that had taken Silicon Valley by storm. "Have you seen this?" he asked, tapping Uber on his phone. "It's changed my life."

Liss-Riordan glanced at the little black cars snaking around on his screen. "He looked up at me and he knew what I was thinking," she remembers. After all, four years earlier she had been christened "an avenging angel for workers" by the Boston Globe. "He said, 'Don't you dare. Do not put them out of business.'" But Liss-Riordan, a labor lawyer who has spent her career successfully fighting behemoths such as FedEx, American Airlines, and Starbucks on behalf of their workers, was way ahead of him. When she saw cars, she thought of drivers. And a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Four years later, Liss-Riordan is spearheading class-action lawsuits against Uber, Lyft, and nine other apps that provide on-demand services, shaking the pillars of Silicon Valley's much-hyped sharing economy. In particular, she is challenging how these companies classify their workers. If she can convince judges that these so-called micro-entrepreneurs are in fact employees and not independent contractors, she could do serious damage to a very successful business model—Uber alone was recently valued at $51 billion—which relies on cheap labor and a creative reading of labor laws. She has made some progress in her work for drivers. Just this month, after Uber tried several tactics to shrink the class, she won a key legal victory when a judge in San Francisco found that more than 100,000 drivers can join her class action.

"These companies save massively by shifting many costs of running a business to the workers, profiting off the backs of their workers," Liss-Riordan says with calm intensity as she sits in her Boston office, which is peppered with framed posters of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. The bustling block below is home to two coffee chains that Liss-Riordan has sued. If the Uber case succeeds, she tells me, "maybe that will make companies think twice about steamrolling over laws."

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/12/uber-lawsuit-drivers-class-action-shannon-liss-riordan

January 7, 2016

Bernie Sanders' Social Security Plan Gets A Huge Boost

Progressives are hailing a New York Times editorial endorsing the expansion of Social Security benefits as an influential blessing to a position that, until recently, was relegated largely to liberal think tanks and activists.

The editorial published over the weekend encouraged presidential candidates to address Social Security as part of a strategy to confront a growing retirement income crisis, rather than merely as a problem to be fixed.

Closing Social Security’s funding gap “can’t be done by broadly cutting benefits,” the paper’s editorial board said. “In fact, there’s mounting evidence that Social Security, which has become ever more important in retirement, needs to be expanded.”

The editorial from the paper of record marks a coup for progressive advocacy groups, economists and lawmakers, including Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who have steadily advanced the once-marginal pro-expansion stance into the mainstream.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/new-york-times-social-security-expansion_568c09e6e4b0b958f65d197e

January 7, 2016

Daily Holidays - January 7

National Tempura Day Everything tastes better when it’s dipped in light, Japanese-style batter and fried, right? Tempura Day is all about making light, crispy batter for your seafood, vegetables and favourite snacks! https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/tempura-day/

I’m Not Going To Take It Anymore Day I’m Not Going To Take It Anymore Day is when we can fight back against all the injustices inflicted upon us.
Arrive late for work by putting yourself first, and spend some time buying yourself a present when you should be at your office or factory.
Don’t open any letters that look suspiciously like bills. And if you’ve always been cheerful and polite, but you’ve also never felt truly appreciated, then this is the day for the worm to turn. Be grumpy and non-communicative all day. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/im-not-going-to-take-it-anymore-day/

Old Rock Day despite some misconception, is not a day of celebrating classic Rock ‘n’ Roll tunes of days gone by but is, in fact, the day that Geologists and amateur rock enthusiasts take it upon themselves to show their appreciation of all things fossilised and stony. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/old-rock-day/

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/january7.html

January 6, 2016

High Stakes in Union-Fee Case Before Supreme Court

The face of the movement seeking to upend the public-employee labor sector has had a back-and-forth relationship with her own local teachers' union.

Rebecca Friedrichs, the lead plaintiff among a small group of California teachers whose case goes before the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 11, started her teaching career in a small school district in Orange County by refusing to join the local union. Later, she joined the union and even became an officer.

Friedrichs is now back to her roots as a so-called agency-fee payer—a nonmember of the union who must pay the proportion of dues that goes for collective bargaining and a few other related costs. The main legal question in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association (Case No. 14-915) is whether a key Supreme Court precedent authorizing such agency-fee arrangements should be overruled.

"The unions have core values that are in direct opposition to my core values," Friedrichs said in an interview. "They're using those fees to support their core values and their agenda."

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/01/06/high-stakes-in-union-fee-case-before-supreme.html