April 4, 2013

U.S. is considering reduced sentence for Enron's Skilling

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON - Former Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling, who is serving a 24-year sentence over the company's spectacular collapse, may get a chance to leave prison early.

The U.S. Department of Justice posted a notice indicating that prosecutors are considering entering an agreement with Skilling that could result in his being resentenced.

Wednesday's notice gives former Enron employees, stockholders and other victims of Skilling's fraud that led to Enron's 2001 bankruptcy a chance to object.

CNBC earlier reported the notice. It said Skilling's lawyers and the Justice Department were negotiating a reduced sentence.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/04/us-enron-skilling-sentencing-idUSBRE9330KP20130404

April 4, 2013

Ancient site unearthed in Iraqi home of Abraham

A British archaeologist says he and his colleagues have unearthed a huge, rare complex near the ancient city of Ur in southern Iraq, home of the biblical Abraham.

Stuart Campbell of Manchester University's Archaeology Department says it goes back about 4,000 years, around the time Abraham would have lived there. It's believed to be an administrative center for Ur.

Campbell said Thursday it's roughly the size of a football pitch _ about 80 meters on each side. He says complexes of this size and age are rare.

He says one of the finds is a plaque of a worshipper wearing a flowing robe and approaching a sacred site.

It's the first British archaeological dig in southern Iraq since the 80s. It's possible because parts of Iraq are now relatively stable.

More: http://www.timesonline.com/news/world/middle-east/ancient-site-unearthed-in-iraqi-home-of-abraham/article_a2efb2f7-3181-543c-aad9-1044df5cda9a.html

April 4, 2013

Worker suspended after Mass. students are denied lunch because they were behind in pay

Source: AP

ATTLEBORO, Massachusetts —School officials say as many as 25 students at a Massachusetts school were denied lunch this week because they either could not pay or their pre-paid accounts did not contain enough money.

Outraged parents say some students at Coelho Middle School in Attleboro cried when they were told by a worker they could not eat on Tuesday.

Superintendent Pia Durkin tells The Sun Chronicle that a worker for the contractor that provides lunch service at city schools has been suspended. She has also scheduled a meeting with officials at the company, Whitson's.

Meanwhile, workers have been told not to deny any child a meal.

Read more: http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/eaa4772cd7074122aa49ec3357d00aee/US--Lunch-Denied

April 4, 2013

New York fast-food industry employees plan strike against low wages

Hundreds of fast food industry workers in New York were due to go on strike on Thursday in the largest such action to ever hit the notoriously low-wage industry.

Organisers behind the protest predict that some 400 workers will walk out or stay away from their jobs across the city in a move aimed at impacting at least 70 restaurants from big chains like McDonalds, Wendy's and Burger King.

The workers are calling for wages of $15 an hour and the right to organise without the threat of retaliation or intimidation. It follows a previous protest in New York last November when 200 workers went on strike.

Jonathan Westin, director of the Fast Food Forward Campaign, said that there was a dire need to raise wages in the fast food industry where many workers put in long hours on minimum wages and thus remained in poverty. There are some 50,000 fast food workers in New York who, organisers say, earn between $10,000 and $18,000 a year – making it difficult to get by in a city known for its sky-high rents and high prices. "They can't pay rent. That is exactly the opposite the chief executives of the companies they work for who earn huge profits," he said.

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/apr/04/fast-food-employee-strike-new-york

April 4, 2013

Nicholas Cendoya found, Kyndall Jack still missing in Calif. forest, authorities say (Update)

Nicholas Cendoya (left) and Kyndall Jack

(CBS/AP) RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif. - One of two missing California hikers was found alive Wednesday after a three-day search in Southern California's Cleveland National Forest, a sheriff's spokesman said. An intensified hunt for the second hiker will continue today with renewed hoped after her companion was found.

Sheriff's investigators plan to talk to 19-year-old Nicholas Cendoya at length, hoping to get more direction on where to look for his companion, 18-year-old Kyndall Jack.

Cendoya was found severely dehydrated and was talking to paramedics but struggled to answer questions about what happened and where Jack might be, Orange County sheriff's Lt. Jason Park said.

"He was extremely confused and disoriented," Park said.

Another hiker found Cendoya at about 8 p.m. Wednesday. The hiker then told a training crew of firefighters -- who were not involved in the search and just happened to be nearby -- where to find him, Park said.

They found Cendoya in thick brush about a half-mile south of where much of the search was focused. Cendoya was flown to a hospital 20 miles away in Mission Viejo.

More: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57577899-504083/california-teen-hikers-update-nicholas-cendoya-found-kyndall-jack-still-missing-in-calif-forest-authorities-say/

April 4, 2013

"Your job is to hold my feet to the fire.

So, you need to be out there everyday raising these issues, telling us when we’re doing the right or wrong thing. My role is to be President of the United States, and your role is to be a strong voice for people who aren’t always heard." - President Barack Obama

Just a reminder.

April 3, 2013

Capriles mocks "skin-deep" socialists before Venezuela vote

Source: Reuters

CARACAS - Venezuela's opposition presidential candidate tore into government leaders on Wednesday as false revolutionaries lining their pockets while professing faith to the late Hugo Chavez's radical socialism.

Trailing in opinion polls ahead of the April 14 vote, Henrique Capriles is attacking acting President Nicolas Maduro and other senior officials as a corrupt and incompetent coterie unable to solve Venezuelans' basic problems.

"They talk of socialism, but it's on the surface only. Look how those well-connected ones live, what they wear, what cars they go round in, how many bodyguards they have," Capriles said.

"They are skin-deep socialists only. Their behavior, I'd say, is savage capitalism. They love traveling. During Easter, they were all off to La Orchila," he added, referring to a military-run island in the Caribbean off Venezuela.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/03/us-venezuela-election-idUSBRE93211120130403

April 3, 2013

Shirley Chisholm on being the first black congresswoman

April 3, 2013

Sexist salad dressing

Sexy Sells: Hunk Heats Up New Kraft Ad

ABC News' Linsey Davis reports:

Kraft, the Midwest-based company known for being conservative in its advertising, is going sexy.

Their new ad campaign, featuring a shirtless hunk, Anderson Davis, who keeps adding Kraft Zesty Italian salad dressing to a flaming hot skillet, is the sexiest they've ever gone as they experiment with a new way to sell salad dressing to women.

"I think these sexy ads are definitely all about the shock value," said AdWeek's Emma Bazilian. "You get people talking about the commercial, which in turn gets them talking about your brand."

And people are definitely talking about Davis.

"It's really nice to have people come up to you and say, 'Dude, you're super zesty,' or whatever they're going to say to you," Davis told ABC News.

More: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2013/04/sexy-sells-hunk-heats-up-new-kraft-ad/

April 2, 2013

Thank You Senator Elizabeth Warren. Because Of You, I Got My Money Back!

-snip-

Although I admired Elizabeth Warren for her victory, I never expected to use the new bureau myself. When it comes to credit card companies and banks I feel have wronged me, I am much more likely to “let it go” than to “fight city hall.” Then Fifth Third Bank screwed withme. They put transactionson my statement they didn’t really make, and then they charged me $280 in fees for their made up transactions. Trying to convince them to have a bank examiner look into the transactions was futile. If it was on the statement, it must be true.

Tossingandturning infrustration one sleepless night, I asked myself, “What would Elizabeth Warren do?” It was then that I remembered her Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Not knowing what to expect,at 2:45 in the morning, I foundthe CFPB website complaint page and clicked on the “bank complaints” link.

I was asked to writea summaryof my problem in4000characters or less. Fortunately I have plenty of Twitter experience. I explained that I suspected the company to which Fifth Third Bank outsources its bill payment service, had falsified entries to cover up a mistake they had made, and that their cover-up had cost me undeserved fees. There was a way to upload supporting documents, but it was the middle of the night, so I merely mentioned I had screen shots of my account with the suspect transactions, and all my correspondence with the bank if they needed them. The form thenaskedwhat resultI wanted,andI said I wanted wanted my $280 back. (That was an oversight on my part. I should haveaskedformy moneyandan apology.) I then gave them my name, address and an email address to set up an account. That was all there was to it.

I figuredI would hear something back around 2020. It’s the government right?

Wrong. Shame on my pessimism. I should have had more faith in Elizabeth Warren. The agency reviewed my complaint, and sent me an email the verynext day saying they had submitted it to Fifth Third Bank. The email directed me to my own account page that would show all the correspondence among the parties.When Fifth Third Bank responded two days later, CFPB notified me immediately by email of the new development.

More: http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/thank-you-senator-elizabeth-warren-because-of-you-i-got-my-money-back/news/2013/04/02/64023